Abandoned Brother- Brother Series Book 1
by DianneRose2016
Summary: Charlie Team takes Clay out on an Op before Bravo can claim him as their own. When he is abandoned in a war zone, Bravo is called to go and rescue him. But with Clay a full day away from them they have no idea if they are bringing home a brother or a fallen soldier. The clock is ticking and with each passing second the chances of Clay surviving decreases.


_**A/N: Alright, this is going to be a new series called Brothers. I love this show and I love Clay. I loved Max in Bates Motel as well so I'm crazy happy to see him in a new show. These stories will either be a oneshot or a twoshot, all are connected and should be read in order to get a full understanding. They will all deal with angst to Clay either physically, emotionally or mentally in someway.**_

 _ **Side note, I have no idea if Cerberus is a boy or a girl. Online it states that she is a she and the dog that plays Cerberus is a girl. However, I could have sworn they have called him a guy before. When they were on the bus and Cerberus was covered in blood after attacking that guy with the knife. I thought Clay said he looked so proud. Regardless, I am staying with the Internet and the dog actress and going with she for this story.**_

 _ **Summary: Charlie Team takes Clay out on an Op before Bravo can claim him as their own. When he is abandoned in a war zone, Bravo is called to go in and rescue him. But with Clay a full day away from them they have no idea if they are bringing home a brother or a fallen soldier. The clock is ticking and with each passing second the chances of Clay surviving decreases. It will take all of Clay's training to get him through until help can arrive.**_

 _ **Warnings: Swearing, violence and a small torture scene.**_

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Abandoned Brother

It was well after midnight when Jason and his team were called back into base. They had no idea what was going on, but they were used to this. They got call outs at all hours of the day and night. They were all used to getting up in the middle of the night or going days without sleep. Jason walked into their command room to see that everyone was there, including Beau. Jason instantly had a bad taste in his mouth just as seeing this man. There really was no one else within the Top Tier that he hated more. Beau liked to say they were rivals, but in reality there was no competition. Jason was better and his performance only proved that. Beau was too uptight and stuck on following every protocol and procedure to the letter that often led to people being hurt. Jason might not always follow all of the rules, but he made sure he gave his men the best chance he could when they were out in the field. He believed in treating his team like family and he would do anything he could to bring them all home.

"What's going on Blackburn?" Jason asked.

He could see the tension in both Blackburn and Mandy's face. Something bad had happened and Jason couldn't even begin to imagine what.

"Four days ago Charlie team headed into Jalalabad for a special op to locate and capture a terrorist with ties to twenty different terrorist organizations. They were able to locate and capture him without too much trouble. However, a situation has come up that we were just made aware of. Fuller, you tell them what you did."

It was clear that Blackburn was barely controlling his rage. What was said to be a completed mission seemed to be bringing out a great deal of anger. Whatever happened the Bravo team knew that Blackburn wasn't involved. He mostly handled their own operations and another Lieutenant Commander handled Charlie team.

"The area our target was bunkered down in was a heavy war zone neighborhood. A decision needed to be made to ensure the success of the operation."

"Get on with it already." Sonny said. He was too tired to deal with this beat around the bush shit.

"Before we left I invited Clay Spenser to come on the team for the operation."

"You did what? You know Bravo has the first pick this year. You had no right to go behind our backs and pick someone." Ray said pissed now.

"I didn't ask him to be on the team. It was just for this one op. He was sitting around doing nothing and it wasn't like you were going to pick him. Everyone knows Jason doesn't like him. He was going to be on my team anyways. I figured I would get ahead start on correcting his behaviour. Let him see how a real team operates. He has a lot that needs to be fix to ensure he is a worthy Tier One SEAL."

"Oh and you are the one to do that? Teach him all about protocols and procedures. Teach him not to think outside of the box. And I never said I didn't like him. He's young, he's cocky, but he's good at what he does. He's led before and he's not afraid to get in it. The worst thing that could happen to him is having someone like you leading and teaching him. You'll ruin him." Jason argued.

He didn't not like Clay it was that he didn't understand him. He didn't know him well enough to truly see beyond the cocky attitude and he had a feeling that was just a front. He knew Clay took shit from his father and based on what he read about his background, he didn't know what family and teamwork was. No one had taken the time to teach him. That was something that would come with time and a great deal of patience. Jason didn't know if he wanted to be the one to take that on.

"No I would make him better, but that is beside the point."

"Then what the hell is the point?" Sonny asked even more pissed off now.

"I sent Spenser to be overwatch as we went into the neighborhood. Things were getting hot after we grabbed our target. I radioed in to have everyone meet at the exfil. Spenser responded. We got to the exfil first, we waited the sixty second protocol for Spenser, but he did not show. Communications were spotty. I tried to radio him again, but it did not go through. The target's army was getting closer and putting us all in risk. I made the decision to leave."

"You left with the kid though right?" Ray asked not liking how this was going.

"No. We had no time to search or wait for him. I informed the base down there and they said they would try and get a team out to locate him, but that has not been greenlighted due to the severe hostility. That was thirty hours ago."

"You left him there! You left the kid in the middle of a war zone all on his own! Are you kidding me?" Jason was beyond furious. Never had he ever left a man behind. He refused to leave anyone behind, dead or alive. It went against everything in him. And Beau had left Spenser all alone in the middle of a war with limited ammo and spotty communications.

"I followed protocol."

"You left a kid there! He's not even thirty for fuck sake!" Sonny yelled.

"He's a soldier. He has been overseas many times before. He is more than qualified to handle a tough situation. The target was my operation. He was the priority."

"You are unbelievable. You are so focused on following the rules that you left a kid over there. I don't care how long he's been a soldier he has not done what we do. He has not been in a war zone all alone with next to no ammo. You abandoned him where if he is lucky he will be killed. If he gets captured they will torture him for as long as his body will hold out. We might never find him. It's been thirty hours already and going to take almost that long to get over there to him. How can you be this stupid?" Jason said through clenched teeth.

"I did my job. I won't apologize or feel bad over it."

"This isn't helping Spenser any. Bravo has the green light to go over there and find him. Davis will be working on trying to locate him from the eye in the sky. He's a smart kid. He's been in tough spots before. He might have found a way out or a spot to hide. He knows someone will be coming for him. Get geared up. I suggest you find something of his and have Cerberus track him on the ground." Blackburn ordered.

"It'll have been almost three days by the time we land. Will she be able to pick up a scent?" Mandy asked.

"If it's fresh enough. Does he have water?" Brock asked Beau.

"Just his canteen like everyone else."

"We don't know what condition he will be in. Trent, make sure you have a fully stocked medic bag and bring extra water. Wheels up in thirty." Blackburn ordered.

"You better pray he is alright." Jason said in a threatening tone before he turned and headed out.

The others following behind with their own dirty looks. None of them were happy about this. It wasn't like Clay was only a couple of hours away. He was a full day away. There was no telling what could be happening to him. They might not find him alive and there was nothing they could do about it. They all quickly made their way to their gear room.

"This is bullshit. He takes the kid when he knows we might pick him up for our team, for his own op and then he leaves him behind." Sonny said as he slammed cases around in his cage.

"There's no telling what his condition will be. I'll have to grab what I can and hope it's enough." Trent said not happy about this either.

"Look, I know we are all pissed about this, but we are no use to him if we are too emotional to help him. We need to pack smart and get in the air. By the time we touch down we should have a starting point to start the search. Bring as much ammo as you can. We have no idea what the situation will be like on the ground. Spenser needs our heads in the game." Jason ordered.

Jason could see the determination in his team's eyes. They were all pissed, but they were focused and ready. They were going to get Spenser back no matter what. They were not abandoning him.

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Fire spread all across Clay's back. He didn't really know how long he had been in this room. There was no windows and it was all just dirt. It smelled musty and it was hot as hell. Clay figured he was underground somewhere, but he had no idea why it was so hot when it should have been cooler. He no longer had any clothes on his torso. His weapons and vest had been removed when he was grabbed. He had tried to make it to the exfil spot, but he wasn't able to get there fast enough. He was under heavy fire and had to move slowly to ensure he wouldn't get shot. He saw the chopper take off and the team on the chopper didn't even fire any rounds to the ground to try and help him.

Clay was able to survive for three hours before he ran out of ammo and was grabbed. He knew they wouldn't kill him right away. They wanted to be able to torture him slowly over months or years if they wanted to. Which sucked, but it was also a good thing. It meant Clay had the time another team needed to come and get him. He just had to hold out and endure the pain until then. His time in SERE training had helped, but it didn't prepare him for true torture. There was only so much your fellow frogmen could do to you. They could waterboard you and hit you, but they couldn't inflict any lasting damage. These guys didn't have that restraint. Clay clenched his teeth as the whip came down across his back once again. That was number twenty and the man didn't seem to be interested in stopping anytime soon. Clay could feel the blood covering his back. With his limited medical training he knew that he could die from being whipped, that people have died that way. He had no idea if that was their plan, but he suspected it wasn't. They wanted to cause pain and this would only be the start.

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Bravo was up in the air and everyone was having a hard time getting some sleep. They had their hammocks up and were trying, all but Jason. He was sitting against the one wall, where he normally was, tapping his finger against his bent knee. Ray had been lightly sleeping when he turned his head to see Jason not sleeping. He let out a small sigh before he got up and headed over to his best friend. He sat down beside him as he spoke.

"You should be sleeping."

"Not tired."

"It's three in the morning. You've been up all night. You need sleep so you are fully ready when we land. You know that."

"I'm too pissed to sleep. How the hell could he just leave him there?"

"You're asking the wrong guy. It's one thing to leave and come right back for a different exfil spot to grab him. Hell, it's even one thing to leave and make sure another team in the area goes in to get him. There is no excuse to leave someone in a war zone with limited supplies while you fly over twenty-five hours back home. He should know better than anyone."

"He's an asshole. We could be recovering a body by the time we get there."

"Could be. And ya he's an asshole, but he's an asshole who will probably end up with him."

"What?" Jason asked, as he snapped his head to look at Ray.

"You don't like the kid and I know you won't put someone on this team that you don't like. Charlie team gets the next pick and Beau will pick him."

"I never said I didn't like him. I just don't understand him."

"Maybe, but you and I both know you haven't picked him already because of Nate. You don't want someone on the team that reminds you of him and Clay does. But he also reminds me of a younger you. Neither are bad things. And Clay, God he looks up to you. You are his hero, his role model. He wants to grow up to be like you. That's clear in his eyes everytime he looks at you. Say we do get him back, are you really going to trust anyone but us with his life and safety? Are you really going to be able to handle knowing that Beau is the one teaching him and having his best interest? Jase man, how the hell can we let him go anywhere but with us?"

"We can't. We'll get him back and keep him safe."

"He's a good kid and has got some skills. He's good at this and he's willing to learn. More willing than anyone I've seen. He's cocky sure, but maybe he needs to be. It can't be easy going through the Seals after what his father did. I know of a lot of people that hate him just because of his dad."

"So you're saying maybe his cocky attitude is his way of protecting himself."

"I think we're going to find that underneath that attitude is a slightly damaged kid that just wants a family to belong to. He's never really had a family."

"He's got one now. We gotta find him Ray. He doesn't deserve to die like this. He's a kid still."

"We'll find him Jason. He's tough. He'll survive and we'll get him through whatever comes after."

"Ya." Jason said softly.

"Try and get some sleep." Ray said, as he placed his hand on Jason's shoulder as he stood up.

Jason just gave a nod and Ray seriously doubted his friend would be getting any sleep. Ray couldn't blame him. Everyone was on edge, had been since the moment they found out that Clay was left behind. They all wanted to find him and get him back home safe and sound.

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Clay had no idea how long he had been trapped here in that room. He could feel the blood running down his back and sides from where the whip had hit him. He had counted forty lashes. He didn't even want to think about what his back could look like right now. When they were finished whipping him they took turns beating him with pipes and their fists. He was a bloody mess and he knew that he had a few cracked, if not broken ribs. He had been hoping they would have released his arms by now and he would have been able to try and fight them off. He hadn't been lucky enough for that and now that he had been tortured and hanging there for easily a day, Clay knew he wouldn't be able to do anything once he got down.

The door opened and Clay braced himself for what could be coming. He was so exhausted and thirsty. He had been sweating non-stop in the room. Clay figured out that there was heat on in the room designed just so he would sweat and become dehydrated. It was working. Three men came into the room, one was holding what looked like a choke chain collar that you would put on a dog and a chain in his other hand. Clay knew what was coming, but he was really hoping he was wrong. The man placed the choke collar tight around his neck, the makeshift collar had the sharp point of the chain cutting into his neck. He then added the chain as a leash before the man beside him handed him a padlock. He placed the padlock on the back of Clay's neck, locking the collar in place.

With that done the man unlocked the restraints and Clay instantly collapsed onto the dirt floor. The men didn't even give Clay the chance to move, they instantly pulled on the chain, dragging Cay along the dirt through the door. Clay tried to get up on his feet, but it was useless. The men didn't give him the chance to get up on his knees, much less his feet. The three of them dragged Clay down a hallway and he was doing everything he could to hold onto the chain to prevent the collar from cutting too deep into his skin. Black spots fluttered across his eyes, Clay fought it back. He couldn't pass out now. He had to know what was going to happen. They brought Clay into another room and pulled him into a medium size dog cage. They pulled the chain through it and hooked into a metal ring on the other side. Once Clay was inside they closed and locked the door. The cage was smaller than the last one he had been in for SERE training. His knees were pressed right against his chest and he couldn't move at all. His position stretched his back and made it scream with fire. He was trying to not pass out, but the pain was too severe and he couldn't hold on any longer as the darkness took him under.

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Bravo team had finally arrived at the last known location of Spenser. All of them were tired and stressed out, but they were all determined to not go home without him. What they didn't know was if they would be bringing back a body or not. The area they were in was still dangerous. They had brought a small army with them to provide backup that would allow them to search for any traces that Spenser may have left. They all knew that there was no chance in hell that he was still here and alive. It had been close to three days since he had been left here to fend for himself. There was zero chance that he was still here, alive at least.

"Based on the report, Spenser was here when Charlie ran to exfil." Ray said.

"Brock, anything?" Jason asked.

"She's getting something." Brock said, as Cerberus was sniffing all over the ground.

"Bravo One this is TOC."

"Go ahead TOC."

"We got the satellite images up for the area when Spenser was abandoned. The satellites are spotty in that area, we can't track his full movements. We saw him trying to get coverage in one of the houses just a few hundred metres north of your current location. After that we lose him." Davis said.

"What about vehicles?" Jason asked.

"There are a lot of vehicles coming and going. There was one truck that could have left from Spenser's last known location, but we can't tell. The satellites were going through updates and maintenance in this area at that time. I'm combing through everything we have to try and follow the vehicles and see where they ended up, assuming he was in one." Davis answered.

"Copy, we'll head to the last known location and go from there."

"Copy Bravo One."

"If he was able to get to a house and hide out in it, he could still be there." Ray said trying to not lose hope.

"In this place? The shooting never stops and the roads gotta have IEDs all in em. It would be a miracle if he made it to the house without getting shot or blown up." Sonny said not impressed at all.

Spenser was here somewhere, most likely dead, all because one of their fellow teams left him here with next to no ammo and no dog.

"We can deal with that later. We need to find the kid and bring him home, no matter what. I'm not leaving him here, dead or alive. Brock, you and Cerberus take the lead. We go slow and careful." Jason ordered.

They made their way slowly towards the house that was Clay's last known location. They all didn't know what they were hoping for to find in that house. They all wanted to find Clay, especially alive, but the chances of that happening were slim. There was no way after close to three days Clay was still safe in that house. If they found him he would most likely be dead, but they would have at least found him. They all wanted to find him, but the reality of it was, they would never be allowed to be out here for months looking. The plug would get pulled after maybe two weeks, if they were lucky. If Clay had been captured, there was no telling how long it could take to find him, assuming they ever did. They approached the house and Sonny called out.

"Spenser! Hey kid you in there?"

When they didn't receive a response they slowly went in with Cerberus in the lead just in case. The house had long been abandoned, but that helped them, because of the disturbances in the dust. Someone had definitely been here recently. Cerberus sniffed all around while they cleared the house. She stopped at what used to be the dining room behind a table that was flipped over onto its side. She stopped and whined and everyone knew she found something.

"What's she got?" Ray asked.

"Spenser was here. Hiding behind the table most likely."

"That table is full of bullet holes." Sonny pointed out.

"Ya and a few look new." Ray commented.

"He would have been wearing a vest. If the bullets did hit him, it hit the vest. I don't see any blood at all." Trent said, as he bent down to get a closer look.

"Alright, look around let's see if we can figure out what happened. We need to know if he got picked up or he ran away." Jason said.

They started to look around the room, Cerberus continued to smell to see what she could pick up. The room was a mess with bullet holes everywhere. Trent was bent down by the table on the other side. He was trying to see if he could figure out a way to tell if Clay had truly been on this side and to also make sure there was no traces of blood that could have been fresh. If Clay was injured that would have made him slow down. He noticed some scrapes in the old wood floor, he originally thought nothing of it, but his eyes kept going to it. He took off his glove and moved his hand over it to try and see what it said.

"Hey Boss, got something over here!" Trent called out.

The others all came over to him as Jason spoke.

"What do you got?"

"There's scratches in the floor."

"Sign of a struggle." Ray said.

"No, they're words, but I have no idea what it says. It's in another language."

"Can you tell what language?" Jason asked.

"No, but they are fresh, only days. I can write them down." Trent said, as he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

"If the kid did do that, why? And why a different language?" Sonny asked.

"Maybe he was grabbed and saw who took him, but was afraid they would be able to read his clues?" Brock suggested.

"He couldn't leave it in Pashtu and they probably speak English. It could also have been left by somebody else." Ray pointed it out.

"Write it down and send a picture to TOC. If the kid did leave it we need to know what it says." Jason ordered.

"He only knows four languages right?" Brock ased.

"I thought it was six." Sonny commented back.

"Either way it's about a handful, they can start there." Ray said.

"It's also the only sign he was here, assuming it is him." Brock said.

"We know he was here from the eye in the sky. We need to know if he left on his own or in a vehicle." Jason said.

"Cerberus is only picking up his scent here and right outside by the door. He didn't leave the house on his own." Brock answered.

"I'll go check for tire treads, maybe that will help us narrow it down." Sonny said, as he turned and headed out.

"There's nothing here Jase. And I can't figure out if him not being here is a good or a bad thing at this point." Ray said.

"He's not dead, at least that we know of, that's a good thing. The kid is smart, he made it through top of the class in SERE Training. He'll figure out a way to survive." Jason said, not really sure who he was trying to make feel better.

"How could they leave him behind? Tier One operatives are supposed to be better than everyone else. There's a code to live up to and they just left him here on his own in a war zone." Brock said disgusted by what had been done.

"We can kick their ass when we get back. Right now we need the kid." Jason said pissed as well.

Sonny came back in as he spoke. "Got pics of a few different treads. We'll need TOC to go over it."

"We have no trail?" Jason asked.

"Not from the treads alone. Too many cars going in too many different directions." Sonny answered.

"Cerberus can't pick up his scent outside of the house. They took him in a vehicle." Brock said.

"And there is nothing but the scratching on the floor. In a language none of us can even read." Ray added.

"We're at a dead end." Trent said, not happy at all about this.

"Bravo One to TOC."

"Go ahead Bravo One." Davis said.

"Found the house that Spenser was hiding out in. He's not here. There are some weird scratches on the floor and a few different tire treads. We're sending you the pictures now."

"Copy Bravo One. Are you at a dead end?" Blackburn asked.

"Yes Sir. What would you like us to do?"

"We're in over our head. Head to J-Bad base, we'll meet you there. Exfil coordinates are being sent to you. We'll regroup and see if the other squads have heard anything."

"Copy, heading to exfil."

"What team is in?" Brock asked.

"Echo for another week." Ray answered.

"Why haven't they come out by now? Charlie reported Spenser being left behind when they left. They should have been down by now trying to find him." Trent commented.

"They should have been. It's possible it was passed off to another team if Echo was too busy. We'll find out when we get there. We need to head to exfil." Jason ordered.

They all made their way out and headed towards the coordinates that was on their phone. With some luck they would be able to get answers back on base and find Spenser before it was too late, assuming it already wasn't.

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Clay fought back the darkness that had consumed him. He had no idea how long he had been out, but his whole body was on fire. Every inch hurt, his lungs felt congested, tight. His back was killing him. The very thought of moving was almost enough to make him cry. He had never felt pain like this before in his life. SERE training was not even close to prepare him for this. He had to get out, but how he had no idea. He was locked in the cage, even if he could somehow figure out how to get the chain detached from the floor, he still wouldn't be able to get the door open. He would have to wait until someone came in to get him out and hope he would be able to use the adrenaline to fight them off and escape, something he highly doubted but would have no choice. He had to try. He couldn't risk getting killed by waiting around for someone who might not show. He knew a squad would be looking for him, but that didn't mean they would be able to find him or that they would find his note left behind. There were too many unknowns, he couldn't wait.

Clay wasn't sure how much time had past from when he regained consciousness to when he heard a door opening. He closed his eyes and tried to come across as someone that was either asleep or unconscious. If he could fool them he might stand a chance at catching them off guard, at least for the first attack. He could hear two different sets of footsteps. He listened as they walked over to the cage. He could hear one of them unhooking the chain while the other opened the cage door. He stayed still even as his ankle was grabbed in a bruising grip and he was pulled out of the cage. He had to bite down on his tongue to prevent himself from screaming out in pain. Now it was all about timing. He was only going to get one chance at this and he had to make sure he struck at the right moment.

He heard the man behind him walk away towards what Clay figured was a wall. He took as deep of a breath as his lungs would allow before he slowly opened his eyes. He could see that the other man was at his feet facing towards him, but he wasn't looking at him. This was his chance. Clay put all the strength he had left in him and quickly kicked the man in his knee caps. The force strong enough to push them back, causing the man to scream out in pain and collapse down to the ground. Clay quickly got up and on his knees he reached out and snapped the man's neck. The scream alerted the other man though and before Clay could even think about getting up he was being attacked by the other man.

Clay used every ounce of training he had to fight the other man off. The man pulled out a knife and tried to stab Clay with it. Clay was able to get his arms up in time to block it, but the knife went into his right forearm before it was pulled out. Clay fought with everything in him to get the knife away from this man. He was losing strength to the pain radiating through his body. He pushed through it and managed to somehow turn the knife around and stabbed it right in the guy's throat. Clay pushed the man off from him as he grabbed at his throat, bleeding all down himself. Clay knew he was going to be dead within a minute so he allowed himself a minute to catch his breath before he knew he would need to move. Taking a few shaky breaths Clay tried to get his lungs to stop burning. He could only allow himself a moment though, because he had no idea who else could be in this place. Clay rolled over onto his stomach and slowly pushed his body up. Every second hurt, but every second he stayed still he was risking his life.

His body was shaking, he couldn't stop it if his life depended on it, all he could do was force his body to move. He went over to the first man he had killed and searched him for any weapons, he didn't have any. Clay was really hoping for a gun, but nothing. He got the same result for the second man. Clay did pull the knife out though, it was better than no weapon at all. He then turned to the chain that hung until his hips and the collar. He knew the collar had that lock on the back of it, a lock he didn't stand a chance at picking in his condition even if he had something to use. He tried to get the chain at least off, but found out it was looped through the collar chain and he didn't have the strength to forcefully remove it. He was stuck with it until someone else could get it off. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of having a collar and leash like some dog, but he didn't have any choice.

He managed to get up onto his feet, but the world spun and he stumbled into the cage. He smashed his stomach into the edge of it and he managed to hold back the yell, but a groan escaped his lips. He forced his mind to think, he knew there were things he was supposed to do, he couldn't let the pain cloud his judgement, his training. He needed to leave something behind to show he had been here. He had to leave a trail for the squad to find him. He looked down to see what he could leave behind. He had his dog tags, but he could use that later. The problem was, he didn't have anything in his pockets and his pants were just army pants, no patches, nothing. The only thing he had was his bracelet. It was a medical alert bracelet that he wore. It wasn't metal, just a simple black band with the plate on the inside. Most didn't even notice it or think twice about it. He had a severe allergy to a few drugs. He always had very bad reactions to them so after experiencing those reactions a few times Clay gave up and got the bracelet for when he wasn't able to tell anyone. It was a risk to leave it behind, but he didn't have much of a choice. He only had the bracelet and his dog tags, three things that was it. He had to leave something. Clay removed the bracelet and placed it down in the cage and he hoped that someone would see it.

With that done he pushed off from the cage and forced his body to move forward. He made it through the door to see that it was another room, thankfully empty. Clay stumbled through and walked through yet another door. This time he was in a hallway that led to what Clay figured was the outside. He could see the sunlight shining through the bottom, but he could also see the shadow of someone's feet under the door. The door did open inward at least, so if he timed it right he would be able to surprise the person on the other side. What he didn't know, and wouldn't until the door was opened, was how many people were on the other side. He doubted there wouldn't be more than one guard on the other side of the door. They had an American soldier, there was no way they only had three guards on him. If he was lucky he would be able to get a gun from one.

Clay leaned against the wall and waited for when the shadow would move off to the side so he would be able to open the door. He was fighting back the exhaustion that was quickly overtaking his body. All he wanted to do was sleep and escape this pain, but sleep meant death or worse more torture. He couldn't go through that, not when he was already this far. He just needed to get out that door and then he would worry about what comes after that. After what felt like forever, the guard finally moved off to the left side of the door and Clay made his move. He went over to the door and had the knife ready. He pulled open the door and as quickly as he could he stabbed the guard right in the neck at his jugular and pulled the knife out. As the guard collapsed Clay took a look around. The sunlight was hurting his eyes, so he squinted to try and see better.

The sound of a gun being fired was the only warning Clay got before he felt the bullet hitting his shoulder. He didn't even get the chance to recover before another body was hitting him into the wall. Clay kicked out to try and get the man off from him. He had no idea if it was the same man that had shot at him. He was hoping so. The pain in his shoulder made it hard for him to fight, but he wasn't giving in. He was so close he couldn't fail now. Clay grabbed the chain and wrapped it around the man's neck and started to squeeze as hard as he could. He received a set of punches to his ribs for his efforts, but he refused to let up. Finally the man collapsed down to the ground. Another shot rang out, but missed Clay. Clay quickly bent down to search the fallen man for a weapon, he was relieved to grab a gun. It was a simple handgun, but it was a gun.

After a quick check to see how many bullets he had, six, he took careful aim and fired at the man shooting at him. He aimed for the head and was pleased to see that he had hit his mark. Not giving his body the chance to feel the pain he got up and quickly cleared the area as he moved towards the left, out of the village. He used up the remaining five bullets taking out the other guards in the area before he reached the outside of the village. It was all desert, not a road or town in sight. Clay knew vaguely the direction his captors took to get here, he figured he would go in that direction and hope he would be able to find some place to hide out in. He needed cover, he needed a safe place to be until help arrived. He just had to get there and wait it out. Clay had grabbed a head scarf on his way out so he wrapped it around his now bleeding left shoulder to try and stop the blood. He didn't want a blood trail where anyone would be able to follow him. With that in place he began to walk, dropping the empty gun pointing in his direction hoping that one of the good guys would see it and understand. Until he was found he was on his own, but that was something he was used to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bravo team headed into TOC at the base. They weren't surprised to see that Blackburn, Davis and Mandy had already arrived. They didn't even bother to drop off their gear, once they got off the halo they headed straight here.

"Do we know anything?" Jason asked looking to get started.

"We just got here. We're working on it right now. It shouldn't be much longer. I got Spenser's file coming in right now that should hopefully tell us what language those scratches were in." Mandy answered.

"I got Echo team coming in now as well." Blackburn added.

"Good, they can tell us why the hell they haven't been out looking for him." Sonny said not impressed at all.

"We don't know the full situation just yet, but we will. Grab something to drink, you might be going right back out." Blackburn advised.

He could understand why everyone was so tense and upset; he was furious too and wanted answers, but he had to go about it the right way. He needed to keep everyone calm so they didn't waste anymore time trying to find Clay. Brock, Trent and Ray headed over to grab some coffee, they were already getting tired, barely sleeping on the plane ride over. Mandy handed Jason a water bottle, who took it mostly just to please her. It wasn't even two minutes later when Echo team walked through the door. It didn't make anyone feel any better to see that they were surprised by them being here.

"Hey, I didn't know you guys would be down. What brought you here?" Steve asked, as he went and held his hand out for Jason.

"You're really asking me that question." Jason said without offering his hand in return.

The Echo team could instantly pick up the tension in the room. They were clearly missing something.

"Alright, I've missed something. What's going on?" Steve asked all business now.

"What's going on? Why the hell aren't you out there looking for our boy?" Sonny demanded.

"What boy?" Johnson asked, Echo's second in command.

"You seriously have no idea?" Ray asked confused now, because Beau said he told the base about Spenser.

"No, what are you talking about?" Steve demanded, as he turned to look at Jason.

"Charlie team was here a few days ago." Jason started.

"Ya, we were told they would be doing a fly in real quick to pick someone up. We offered to help, but told it wasn't necessary. They got in, grabbed their target and got out, no problems." Steve said not seeing the big deal in this.

"They took a rookie Tier One on the op, Clay Spenser."

"Damn they got Spenser? I was kinda hoping we would get him." Miller said, Echo's previous rookie.

"Charlie got him eh? I thought you were first pick, you passed him up? That's not very smart of you. Everyone has been talking about him, he's supposed to be like a younger version of you." Steve said surprised that Jason would pass on someone so talented and promising. He had some issues, but everyone did.

"I didn't pass him up. I was still deciding. Beau took him on an op, assuming I wouldn't take him and he would get him. Wanted to start breaking the bad habits and teach him all about protocols and policies. He wasn't supposed to take him, not while picks were being done. They took him on the op and then they left him behind."

"What do you mean they left him behind?" Steve asked figuring that Spenser must be on base then. Anything else would be unimaginable.

"They left him there, in the middle of a war zone while their asses were safe on the halo." Sonny said.

"No, there's no way. There has to be some mistake Beau wouldn't do that." Razor instantly said. No Tier One would ever just leave a man behind like that.

"We got called in not even two nights ago, Beau was there. He told us himself how they had their target and got to exfil, but the kid wasn't there. Beau radioed in to him, kid copied, but when it came time to go he wasn't there yet. Beau waited the required amount of time before he took off with his squad and their target. They flew back home before informing command there. We were sent in to get him. Beau said he radioed it in." Jason said.

"He didn't do it here then. He must have gone to the locals for the extract. Otherwise we would have gone in to get him. How could he be so fucking stupid? Where's the rookie now?" Steve asked, now pissed off at the situation.

"We don't know. We went to his last known, but he was gone. Trent found some scratches in the floor in some language, but it may be nothing." Jason said, calming down now that he realised his friend didn't know anything about this.

"We got tire treads, but it might not lead to anything. We know he was grabbed. It's been three days now." Ray added.

"No ransom demand, nothing online. So whoever took him is keeping it quiet, at least for now." Blackburn commented.

"He's what, twenty-seven years old? He's younger than all of us. How the hell do you leave him in a war zone with I'm assuming limited ammo and supplies?" Williams said shocked by the actions of another squad leader.

"Everyone on Charlie will face the consequences for this. All of them knew better and they will all pay for this. For now we need to focus on finding the kid." Blackburn said.

"His file came in. Let me cross reference the scratches with his known languages. This will just take a sec." Davis said.

"What about satellites? Did they catch anything?" Steve asked.

"They were in and out. Caught some vehicles, but until we know which one we can't follow it." Mandy answered.

"Any groups right now that are hot against us?" Brock asked.

"No more than usual." Hall answered.

"Got it. It is Farsi. Translating it now." Davis said.

"He speaks Farsi?" Johnson asked shocked.

"And five other languages for the record, including English." Davis answered.

"Damn, we need him." Razor said.

"He's ours." Sonny said protectively.

"Officially?" Steve asked.

"Once we get back. I'm not about to let Charlie get him. Kid won't last a week on that squad." Jason said.

"Alright scratches say; canvas, beige, b-z." Davis read.

"That's it? What the hell is that?" Sonny asked, his anger growing even more.

"That had to of meant something for him to scratch it into the wood floor in another language that no one around here speaks. Everyone in this area speaks Pashtu." Ray said.

"Canvas, beige, could be a truck." Trent suggested.

"B-z though, what could that be?" Brock asked.

"A plate." Jason stated.

"He wouldn't have been able to read it, not from where he was. Seeing a truck maybe through those slots in the wood, but he wouldn't have been able to see a plate." Ray said.

"What weapon did he have?" Hall asked.

"Standard handgun and rifle." Blackburn answered.

"So no scope from a sniper rifle." Hall said, so that idea was out.

"No it is a plate. He would have had a scope." Davis said, as something clicked. She turned around and started to type on her computer.

"He wouldn't have brought his sniper rifle though." Trent said confused.

"He wouldn't need it. About a week after Spenser came with us for that op as a Strap, I ran into Brian at the bar. We somehow got onto the topic of weird habits some operatives have. He told me that Clay keeps a compact and collapsable scope in his pouch at all times."

"Why?" Miller couldn't help but ask.

"Three years ago Clay was sent on a special op to Africa. Mostly classified, but he was to take out a well-known sniper in the area. They both had each other in their sights and both fired. They destroyed each other's scopes, the sniper had a backup, but Clay didn't. He had to use binoculars to take him out. He didn't want to be caught flat footed again so he bought a scope that he could carry and clip onto any rifle."

"He would have been able to use the scope to pick up part of the plate." Ray said impressed.

"He made a kill shot using binoculars? Damn." Hall said impressed himself by that.

"Kid's got skill. Instructors said he could make kill shots while running with one shot." Ray said.

"Damn, you sure you don't wanna pass him off to us?" Steve asked with a smirk.

"You're fourth on the list. Even if I was going to pass, you wouldn't get him. There is no way in fucking hell am I going to let Charlie team get their hands on him again. If he wants to keep being here, he's staying with us." Jason said.

"If?" Brock asked.

"Good strong men have left for less. Being captured and tortured changes someone. It's not easy to get past." Ray commented.

"That is something we need to speak about. I was informed this shortly before you arrived on base. This information is classified, but you all have high enough clearance to hear it. This isn't Spenser's first experience with being captured." Blackburn said.

"Wait he's been captured before?" Ray asked shocked.

"What happened?" Jason asked not liking how this conversation was going.

"Back on his first deployment when he was eighteen Spenser was on a squad with Lieutenant Hitcher. They were not too far from here actually when a raid went south. Seven soldiers were in the squad on an op to capture a known terrorist informant. Hitcher got the target, but he was killed by another hostile on the way to exfil. They were getting pinned down and the squad was spilt up. According to reports, Hitcher was losing it. He ran for exfil and didn't make sure his men were with him. Spenser was the one to get two of the men that were pinned down free and to the exfil halo. He saw that three others were missing so he went back for them. Hitcher told the pilot to take off and left the four of them there. He reported it back to base command, but of course told them that Spenser went against his orders and put the op at risk. Blamed him for everything. They sent three squads in to get the four of them out, but it was too late. All four were gone. They were found twelve hours later."

"How did they find them?" Steve asked.

"They fought their way out. The three other soldiers said Spenser was the one that was able to get them out. The four of them took twenty guards out without any weapons. Spenser took out ten himself, snapped their necks. They were able to flag down a passing convoy and got back to base. All sustained injuries, Spenser had a few broken ribs and bruises. Two of them wanted out and received an honorable discharge. The third never recovered mentally of being left behind by a squad leader. He was diagnosed with PTSD and given a medical discharge. Hitcher, was demoted and quit less than a year later for it. Spenser was awarded the Medal of Bravery for his actions that day."

"Wow." Brock said softly.

"He's got out before, he might have gotten free." Trent said hopeful.

"Possible, but we have no idea what these guys want with him. He's got experience though, he's been through this so he'll be level headed. Think clearly without emotions getting in the way." Ray said.

"He's got more than that. Afterwards he took multiple courses on surviving and preventing capture. He wasn't going to be unprepared again. Part of that course is learning how to leave a trail for your rescuers without your captors knowing." Mandy commented.

"Hence the Farsi. That's good. A trail means we can track him." Steve said.

"We just need a starting point." Jason said.

"Got the truck. I'm trying to follow it right now." Davis said, as she was combing through video footage.

"Get geared up and ready. I want both squads out there, I'm not taking any risks. Trent, grab whatever you might need for medical supplies." Blackburn ordered.

"I don't know what I'll need, but I'll go look and see if there is something here on base that might help that we didn't have back home." Trent said.

"I need to feed Cerberus and then she'll be ready to go." Brock said.

"You take care of her. She might be the only way we find the kid." Jason ordered.

They all gave a nod and got to work on getting what they might need. They knew that Clay's life was riding on them and they were not going to let him down. They were going to find him and bring him home, no matter what.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was three hours later when Bravo and Echo team touched down outside of the village that the truck had taken Clay. They were fully prepared to go in and get him out. With Brock and Cerberus in the lead they headed towards the entrance. Just as they arrived at the fallen gun Cerberus turned towards the left instead of going into the village. Brock held onto her though, because he knew they needed to go in the village.

"Why isn't she going in?" Sonny asked.

"The trail goes this way." Brock said.

"But we know that they brought Clay here in the village. Davis saw them dragging him out of the truck before we lost the footage." Williams said.

"He must have escaped." Steve commented.

"Which way Boss?" Brock asked.

"Does she pick up Spenser's scent going into the village?" Jason asked.

"She does, it's both ways." Brock answered.

"We go in then. We know for a fact that Spenser was in the village. He could have escaped and is out there somewhere, or he escaped and they caught him again. I'd rather spend the ten minutes it'll take to clear the village than not go into it with him trapped there." Jason ordered.

Brock gave a nod and forced Cerberus to go into the village. It took a minute because Cerberus did not want to go into the village, but she had no choice in the matter. They all made their way into the village. They were able to spot the few dead men on their way to the house that Clay was being held in. It was looking more and more likely that Clay had been able to escape. By the time they reached the house they took notice of the door being open and the two dead men near it. They saw the first man had a knife in his neck. Trent bent down to look at the second man and took notice of the bruising around his neck.

"This one was choked to death by a chain it looks like." Trent said.

Cerberus started to bark at the blood that was on the wall.

"That's Clay's. Or some of it at least." Brock said knowing what his dog was barking over.

"It would have to be most of his to overpower another scent though." Ray commented not liking the amount of blood that was on the wall.

"This is a bullet." Razor said pointing to the one spot at the wall.

"How tall is the kid?" Hall asked.

"That would be about shoulder height for him." Sonny answered, as his stomach tightened at the thought.

"If he is shot, it's a through and through at least. It's possible it could have been a graze if he was struggling with this guy. It might not have hit him at all. The blood could be from other injuries." Trent said.

"No one has moved these bodies. It's looking more like the kid got out and is out there somewhere." Steve commented.

"Let's clear this place quickly." Jason said, as he headed down the hallway.

They all made their way down the hallway and through the different sets of doors. When they arrived in the room where the cage was they all felt disgusted. The room was hot, hotter than it should have been. The heat made the smell in the room just that much worse. It was blood that had been put into an oven, it made even them nauseous. Echo team headed through the next door while Bravo team searched this one.

"This one has a broken neck." Brock commented to the one dead man.

"This one looks like he was stabbed. Probably the one that had that knife we saw out front." Sonny said.

"Why is it so hot in here?" Jason asked, as he looked around for that reason.

"Probably has a heating system to weaken their captives." Ray commented.

"That's exactly it. This would have made Clay dehydrated, made him weaker." Trent added.

"Not weak enough." Jason said, as he took in the cage, the cage with blood all in it.

Cerberus came over and started to whine at the cage and they didn't need Brock to tell them what she meant. The blood was Clay's. Cerberus went over and started to poke her nose at something.

"What do you got Girl?" Brock asked, as he bent down to grab what was on the floor of the cage. Brock grabbed the bracelet and turned it over to see the metal plate on it. "It's a medical alert bracelet."

"What?" Jason asked, as Brock handed it to him.

"It's his. Why didn't we know about that?" Brock asked, as he got back up.

"We should have. Bravo One to TOC."

"Go ahead Bravo One." Blackburn answered.

"The kid's not here. Looks like he escaped and killed his captors on his way out. Cerberus picked up his scent, we should be able to track him. We got a medical alert bracelet left behind. It's got his name on it."

"I have nothing on that. What is the alert?"

"Medication Sensitivity." That was a new one for him.

They all turned to look at Trent to see if he knew.

"It means he has bad reactions with medication. He probably has a few allergies. We need to know what they are before I can give him anything. We need to know if he's had morphine before."

"TOC, Bravo Four needs the medical history for Spenser. Specifically if he has had morphine before and what allergies he might have."

"Copy Bravo One. I will get it for you."

"Copy."

"Jason, you need to see this." Steve said from the doorway.

They all headed into the final room and none of them could believe it. There were chains hanging from the ceiling, a puddle of blood on the floor, a whip and a few other weapons on a table by the wall. Cerberus went over to the blood and started to bark and whine. Brock rubbed her ears to try and comfort his friend.

"There's fresh blood on the whip." Steve said gently.

He knew this would be hard on them. Clay wasn't an official member of their squad, but that didn't change the fact that he was a member of their squad. It was affecting his own team because this kid was a kid to them. He was younger than all of them, maybe too young to be in this type of life. As silly as that sounded because he had been in the military for almost ten years now, he wasn't a kid in the traditional sense. But to them he was. He had so much life to live and so much to learn. He didn't deserve this.

"They whipped him?" Sonny asked softly with pain edging his voice.

"We need to hurry and find him. He could be bleeding out. He's going to be seriously injured. The clock is ticking Boss." Trent said with an urgency that wasn't often heard by the man. That was enough to push everyone to full alert.

"Let's go." Jason order.

They all made their way out of the house and ran towards the front of the village. Jason was pissed, beyond pissed. It was one thing to know that someone was probably being tortured, but a whole other thing to see the mess left behind from it. They had whipped him. Only once in his life had Jason seen the scars from someone being whipped and that was around the time he started his military career. It was an old squad leader, he had five long scars all down his back from being whipped when he was younger by his abusive father. Said that even after thirty years at times they still hurt in the cold and in the rain. To think that Spenser would have to possibly go through that pain for the rest of his life was gut wrenching. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve the pain. He didn't deserve to be abandoned in the middle of an active war zone. He didn't deserve any of it.

"TOC to Bravo and Echo." Davis said.

"Go ahead TOC." Jason said for them all.

"Got the medical file. Spenser is allergic to sulfur and phosphate. He has had bad reactions to a great deal of drugs including morphine. It was given to him when he was sixteen and almost put him into a coma. Highly allergic."

"Do we have anything other than morphine for pain?" Steve asked.

"No. Morphine is within the regulations and that is it. He should have had been allowed to have his own special medical kit with medication that he is able to take. We should have been informed of it." Trent said.

"Copy TOC. Is there a special medical kit for Spenser?" Jason asked.

"Negative Bravo One. Paperwork was submitted by Spenser a couple of times, but all were denied. Commander Richards denied it every time. He has a strong hatred for Spenser's father and it seems to have trickled down onto him. I'll take care of it for next time. Unfortunately, this time around he'll have to hold on until he gets to base or the hospital."

"He'll need to be on base. The hospital here won't have what he needs or can be trusted to not give him something that he is allergic to. Sulfur and phosphate are in almost every drug. Especially phosphate it is used to bind the pills together. He wouldn't even be able to take normal vitamins." Trent said into the coms.

"I'll let the base Doc know to be prepared for the allergies." Davis said.

"Let him know that Spenser has been whipped and possibly shot in the shoulder." Jason said in a controlled voice from years of practice.

"You think he was whipped?" Davis asked not being able to keep the pain from her voice.

"We know he was. Not sure how bad. Tell the Doc to be ready for anything." Jason responded.

"Copy."

The two teams followed behind Brock and Cerberus through the hot sand. All were worried about what condition Clay would be in with this heat. He would have already been dehydrated from the heat in that room, being outside would only make that worse. They needed to find him and quick. Brock stopped once Cerberus began digging at something. He bent down as Jason spoke

"What is it?"

Brock picked it up and turned the dog tag over to see Spenser's name.

"One of his dog tags. He's leaving a trail." Brock said, as he stood up and handed it over to Jason, who put it in his pocket.

"Smart boy." Jason said with a hint of pride for Clay.

"We're going in the right direction at least. He wouldn't have been able to go that far with being injured and in this heat." Steve commented.

"Hopefully he didn't get picked up by someone." Johnson commented.

"Let's not think about that just yet. He's gotten this far, he would have figured out a way to get someplace safe." Ray responded.

They continued on the trail and after two hours they were able to find the other dog tag along with the chain they are kept on. They reached an area where there were a couple of destroyed shacks that at one point were used to help people with transitioning between villages. They were nothing but a pile of old wood now. Cerberus led Brock over to the second destroyed shack and started to bark.

"What is it Girl?" Brock asked.

Cerberus went over to the side of the shack and started to dig at the ground where a break in the wood seemed to be. The others came over as Jason spoke.

"What does she want?"

"Cerberus, find Spenser." Brock ordered.

Cerberus looked at them before she laid down right where she was digging.

"Did she lose the scent?" Steve asked.

"No, she's saying Spenser is in there." Brock said.

"There's no way he could have gotten in." Sonny pointed out.

"This is where the trail ends. Something is under there that she's indicating." Brock said in defense of his partner.

"Then we get this wood off." Jason ordered, as he went and started to grab some of the pieces on top.

Ray went and walked around the shack to see if there was a way in somehow. He didn't see anything right away, but after the third time he noticed a disturbance in the sand around the back.

"Shit. He's in there." Ray said with urgency as he began to help remove the wood.

"What? How do you know?" Jason demanded.

"The sand around the back, its been disturbed. Someone dug here recently and based on the wind it couldn't have been more than a few hours ago."

"If he was able to dig enough he could have moved a few of the wood pieces to get in and then block it out." Trent commented.

"There's no way he has to be too injured for that." Hall responded back.

"He should have been too injured to take out any of those guards or walk this far. His body is functioning on survival mode. If his mind picked this place as being the safest his body would have done what it had to to get to safety. It's not common, but some people can push through on will power alone that will block out the pain until they are safe again to feel it." Trent further explained.

"How he got in here doesn't matter. He's in there and we need to get him out." Brock said, as they continued to take the wood off. They had to be careful so they didn't make any of the wood collapse down onto Clay.

It was only a small shack though so it took them five minutes to get the wood from the top removed. Once it was gone they all stopped completely stunned by what they saw. There in the middle, on the sand was Clay. The sand was red all around him as his blood tinted it. He was covered in blood and bruises. What made them all stop short was seeing the collar and chain leash attached to him. Not only had they stuck him in a dog cage, but they actually put a collar and leash on him, like he was their pet. It made them all sick.

"Holy fuck." Sonny whispered.

Trent didn't even waste a second before he was running over to Clay and got down in the blood soaked sand.

"Clay, can you hear me?" Trent said urgently as he checked for a pulse.

"He alive?" Ray asked, as he went over as well. His father instincts kicking in.

"His pulse is weak, but steady. We need the water. We need to cool him down." Trent said and the others grabbed the water that they had and went over to Clay.

They handed their water over to Trent and he started to pour it over Clay to try and cool off his body.

"What can we do?" Jason asked.

"We need a medevac. His breathing is weak and laboured, there is a slight blue tint to his lips. Something is wrong with his lungs. He's losing too much blood. He's been shot in the shoulder, his back is covered in lashes, maybe forty of them. His other arm is also bleeding from a cut it looks like. He could be bleeding internally. We need to get him out of here." Trent said urgently and that was all Jason needed to know.

"Bravo One to TOC."

"Go ahead Bravo One." Blackburn answered.

"We found Spenser. We need a medevac to our location."

"Medevacs are all twenty minutes out. Can he be moved in a halo? We can get one to you in five minutes."

Everyone turned to look at Trent to see what he had to say.

"He needs more than I can give him, but he can't wait twenty minutes. I don't like it, but we don't have a choice."

"Send the Halo and make sure the Doc knows we are coming in hot. He's been shot in the shoulder, has lashes all over his back. He's lost a lot of blood and his lips are tinted blue. Bravo Four said there is some kind of lung damage done. Make sure the Doc knows he can't have morphine and what he's allergic to."

"Doc has already been informed of the medication issues. I'll let him know of the injuries and we will meet you at the halo. Bring our boy home."

"We will. Out."

"Can we help you with anything?" Steve asked.

"I would feel better if I could get his eyes to open even for a second." Trent said, as he pulled out his stethoscope to try and hear what is going on in Clay's lungs.

"Do you want me to try and wake him?" Ray asked.

"If you can. I need to get the bleeding under control and try to stop any more blood loss."

Jason stepped in and started to get some gauze on the bullet wound. He had medic training, most of the time they left Trent to do it as he was their actual medic, but he needed more help. There was enough of them that Echo team could keep an eye out for any hostels while they focused on Clay. Together they all tried to get the bleeding under control to buy Clay more time. Trent was not happy to hear his lungs. They didn't sound good at all. Something was seriously wrong and he would need oxygen to get his levels back up. With his breathing checked Trent then moved onto trying to get the bullet wound under control. If he could pack the wound well enough they should be able to move him without causing it to bleed even more. Through all of this Clay had yet to even make a single sound. He was completely out cold, something that was both a blessing and a concern for them. The halo landed not even six minutes later, the problem was it wasn't a medic transport. There was no stretcher or anything they could use to help Clay during the flight to the base. It would be a good thirty minutes in the air to get back to base.

"Ok, we need to move him very carefully. He doesn't have any swelling to his neck, but we still need to be careful we don't jerk him around too much. I also have no idea if his back has been injured from the lashes." Trent said.

Sonny grabbed the tarp that was in his bag that they used when one of them was injured to carry them. He got it open and on the ground. Trent went to Clay's head so he could brace Clay's neck while Sonny and Brock got the bottom half of him and Ray and Jason got the top half. Together they all slowly moved Clay over to the tarp and placed him down in it on his side to prevent his back rubbing against the tarp. As carefully as they could they moved Clay out from the rubble and towards the chopper. They did their best to make sure not to jostle him around too much, but it wasn't that easy. They loaded him up onto the chopper, still on his side, before they all got in. Bravo team surrounded Clay while Echo team kept back to give them some room. Trent continued to look after Clay as Jason gave the order for take off.

"He's burning up. In the bag are some cold packs." Trent said.

Brock grabbed the bag and took out the four cold packs. He handed two to Trent and he broke the other two to activate the cold. Trent did the same as he instructed Brock on where to place his bags. Trent placed one of his on Clay's head and the other on his side. The joselling of the chopper was what finally did it for Clay to start coming around. His breathing got worse as his body started to register the pain it was in. His eyes slowly opened, but his vision was blurry. Clay had no idea what the hell was going on. His whole body was in agonizing pain. He felt like he was moving, but that couldn't be right, because he was supposed to be in that wood pile. His breaths started to come out as wheezes as he started to panic.

"It's ok Clay, you're safe." Trent said trying to keep Clay calm so he wouldn't move around too much and cause himself more pain.

Clay tried to focus on the voice, it sounded familiar, but it was hard to pinpoint who was speaking. He also had no idea where the hell he was. The movement, the vibrations, hurt everything in him. He wanted it to stop, he wanted it all to stop. A sharp movement shot pain radiating down his spine. Clay wasn't able to hold the small scream back.

"It's ok Clay." Trent said again trying to get Clay to calm down.

All Clay could think was to get the pain to stop. He started to try and move to relieve some of the pain, only the more he moved the more it hurt. His body started to tremble and his breathing got worse once again.

"Does he even know what is going on?" Sonny asked.

"The pain is really bad. His mind can't focus on what is going on around him. He's got bruising on his face, he could have a concussion to go with it. All we can do is tell him that he's safe and hopefully his mind registers it." Trent explained.

Jason went and placed his hand in Clay's right hand as he spoke in a gentle voice. "Look at me kid, show me those baby blues."

That voice sounded familiar, but he had never heard it so soft and gentle before. He associated that voice with authority and strength. A voice that commanded attention. It was never soft like that. Even still Clay found himself trying to look at the direction that the voice came from. His eyes were still blurry, but he could just make out the shape of Jason.

"That's it, good kid. I know you hurt all over. I know you are confused and probably wish you could sleep for the next week without being bothered. We're in a halo heading to the base. The Doc there is going to fix you right up and give you some pain meds. You just need to hang on a little longer."

"Clay, I'm going to get this lock off so I can remove the collar and chain." Trent said, as he pulled out his lock pick set.

The second he touched it though Clay flinched away. His mind wasn't there. He couldn't focus. He knew he heard that voice before, but he still couldn't place it. Everything hurt and he knew the collar coming off would only make the pain worse. Jason moved his hand out from Clay's and removed his glove before he put his hand back as he spoke.

"Clay, listen to me, you can feel that right? You feel my hand?"

Clay gave a small nod and Jason knew that his mind was with them at least a little. He knew the pain would be making it hard for him to think clearly. They all did.

"Good, that's good. It's Trent behind you. He's the one that is going to get that collar off. I need you to let him."

"Clay, I know the collar is cutting into your neck. I promise I'm going to be as gentle as I can be, but it needs to come off. It could do a lot of damage staying in. I know it's hard, but I need you to not move." Trent said calmly to Clay.

The other Bravo members placed their hands on Clay as well so he would know that they were with him as well. Trent went and tried to get the lock off again as Jason spoke.

"It's just Trent, he's not going to hurt you. The whole team is here, we're not going to let anything happen to you. It's ok, you're safe."

"He's in a lot of pain." Brock said sadly.

"Keep talking to him, it'll help keep him calm. The calmer he is the less tense his body will be. I have to get this off from him." Trent said.

"We owe you a case of beer after this Clay." Sonny said.

"He's right. First time you survive capture gets you a case of beer. Might have to throw in a bottle of whiskey for escaping capture." Ray added.

Trent got the lock off and then he started to remove the collar, but the chains had already dug into Clay's neck. The second he went to pull them out Clay tensed and tried to pull away giving a groan.

"I know it hurts, I'm sorry Spense. I have to get this off from you though. You are already at a high risk of infection." Trent said apologetically.

"Like he understands any of what you just said." Sonny said, pointing out how out of it Clay currently was.

"You are not making me feel any better about this." Trent said with an edge to his voice.

He became a medic to help people, not to cause them pain. Especially when they were already in so much pain to begin with.

"You're doing good Trent." Jason said before he looked down to speak to Clay. "It's ok Clay. Squeeze my hand. We'll get to the base and the Doc will give you some pain meds."

"We gotta get his own med kit." Sonny said pissed that Clay didn't already have one.

"We need it approved by the upper brass." Brock commented back.

"I don't care about that shit. Trent, make sure you pack one for him. Anyone says anything, send them to me." Jason ordered.

"Fine by me."

Trent was already going to be doing that anyways, with or without permission. He wasn't going to risk Clay's health like this again. He wasn't made aware of it before they got here, but he refused to come unprepared again. It wasn't fair to Clay at all. He didn't deserve this shit. Despite who his father was, he shouldn't have to pay for his father's choices or actions. Clay was a damn good soldier. He had been able to survive capture once already and he didn't let that end him. He moved forward, took courses to better his skills and took second place in Team Three. He led his own men on missions. He had a huge amount of potential, that potential was exactly why Trent wanted him on the team. He was good for them and they would be good for him. They would be able to learn from him and he would be able to learn from them. He would be in an environment that encouraged questions and seeking answers. Clay would grow more on their team than any other team. Trent finally removed the collar and chain from Clay's neck.

"Now what?" Sonny asked.

"Now we wait until we get there. Clay, I know it hurts too much to talk right now, but I need you to try and nod or shake your head for me. Your chest, does it hurt?" Trent asked gently. He didn't know what was wrong with Clay's breathing, but he needed to try and get some answers for the doctor.

Clay had his eyes closed as he was trying to block out the pain. He gave a very small nod, so small he wasn't even sure he gave one, but Trent continued to speak so he figured he must have.

"Do you feel congested?"

Clay gave another nod.

"Can you get a deep breath?"

This time Clay shook his head.

"Ok, just rest. That's be the best thing for you right now." Trent said, as he placed his hand gently on top of Clay's head to offer what little comfort he could.

"What do you think is wrong?" Jason asked.

"Hard to say without any scans. He's going to need at least an x-ray. It's not internal bleeding or he would be coughing up blood. A collapsed lung and he would be almost hyperventilating. I'm worried about a puncture from a broken rib or he could have bruising on his lung."

"Is that possible?" Ray asked.

"It is from being hit with a great deal of force. It bruises the lung lining. It can be very painful and always needs oxygen or even being intubated to be corrected. The doc will do the scans almost right away to see what he is dealing with."

"What are we rooting for?" Sonny asked.

"Puncture requires surgery to fix. With his allergies it would put him at a higher risk of complications. Bruising will eventually fade. It will be painful and unpleasant, but it will heal on its own with time."

"So bruising then." Sonny stated.

"Could he have sustained enough force though?" Ray asked.

"It's possible. It would be the same amount of force it would take to break his rib. His torso is covered in bruising from being hit with some type of object. It's possible."

"We're almost there." Jason said.

They spent the rest of the flight in silence as they all watched Clay trying to fight through the pain and stay alive. His breathing had gotten worse, which put them all on edge. They knew he was struggling, but they had been hoping he wouldn't get worse on them. By the time they landed Clay was trembling from the pain his body was going through. A stretcher was wheeled up to them with the base doctor, Davis, Mandy and Blackburn right with it. Trent and Jason both helped to get Clay off the halo and onto the stretcher. The movement only made Clay worse, something they felt terrible over. Once Clay was on the stretcher, still on his side the doctor spoke as they started to wheel him away.

"What do we know?"

"He has forty or so lashes across his back and a couple hit his sides. He is having trouble breathing, possible puncture or bruising on his lungs. He has not been able to speak. Was unconscious for at least twenty minutes. Through and through gunshot wound to his left shoulder. Various cuts, the one on his right forearm will need stitches. He didn't gain consciousness until we were in the air. Multiple bruising, possible heat exhaustion, unknown time in the sun. Lacerations around his neck from a chain collar. You've been briefed on his allergies?" Trent answered.

"I have. Once we get him in I'll give him some tramadol. I've contacted his main care provider and he has approved tramadol. Spenser has had it previously without any allergic reactions." Dr. Walish said.

"You're sure?" Jason asked.

"Yes, I doubled checked. He's had it three times in the past, no reaction at all. He's never needed a blood transfusion, I'm hoping he won't need one now."

"Would that be a problem?" Ray asked.

"Some people can have reactions to the transfusion, even have an allergic reaction to it. Spenser has never had a transfusion before and with his sensitivities it is a concern that he is allergic to it."

"What are the odds?" Jason demanded.

"I can't give you any. We'll have to wait and see if he needs one or not." Dr. Walish answered as they arrived at the infirmary.

They put Clay in the first bay that was free and Dr. Walish got to work right away with the nurse who was on standby.

"I know you are worried about your man, but we need room to work. Please, go and wait in the waiting room. We will keep you updated." The nurse said calmly to the others.

"She's right. We're taking up too much room. He's in good hands." Blackburn ordered.

He knew they wouldn't like it, but the infirmary was small and they were taking up a great deal of room standing here. With the help of Mandy they were able to get both teams into the waiting room to start the next round of waiting. Steve went and sat down next to Jason while Hall went to grab everyone some water. Steve placed his hand on Jason's back and gave a quick pat before leaving it there for a moment to offer what comfort he could.

"How could they have done this to him?" Jason whispered so they wouldn't be overheard.

"You know how hostiles are in this area. They saw an American soldier and they wanted to cause him pain."

"I'm not talking about them."

Steve let out a small sigh as he brought his hand back down. "I don't know. There's following protocols and then there is doing something incredibly stupid. Beau never should have left, but the others should have known better themselves. You don't leave a man behind, no matter what. Especially when that man is within your area. None of this should have happened. I don't care if going after the kid would have screwed the mission, you get your men out before anyone else. There's no excuse for this and Beau will have to face the consequences of this. Beau and his team. We got the kid here though and the doc is with him. He should be fine with time."

"He better be or Beau won't survive. He'll be lucky if he's able to guard a mall by the time I'm done with him."

"I got your back on it and you know Alpha and Delta team will as well. This goes against all of us and what we are supposed to stand for. Beau and his team are in for a rude awakening when you get back. Assuming they aren't already in shit."

"Command will wait to see what Spenser's condition is first before they move to take action. The kid better be ok."

"He will be. He's strong. He lasted this long. He got captured and got his own ass free after being tortured. He found a way to hide and leave a trail for us. He's a smart kid. He's going to make one hell of a Tier One operator. Teach him everything you know so he's always ready when he walks out that door. He's got potential to be one of the greats."

"I know he does. I just wish he had never led before. He was second in command on Team Three, he's been in that mindset of a leader for four years. He's going to question everything, I know that and I'm fine with that. That's how some guys learn, they ask hundreds of questions to find the answers. I'm good with that, shows he's learning something and if he's going to learn I got no problem teaching him. But when you are in that leader mindset for four years you can't just shut that off."

"You're worried about what risks he might take to protect the team, because he's used to having to do just that. He's going from being in the top to the bottom all over again, he's not going to be used to being protected. That's an adjustment you'll both have to make. He has to get used to being looked after and you have to get used to him taking risks if that protects the rest of you. It's in his blood, he won't be able to change that. Like Nate." Steve said that last part gently.

"Ya, like Nate. He reminds me of him more than anyone I've ever met. It's why I hesitated. If I hadn't he would have been with us and not with Charlie for this op. I can't handle another Nate. I can't lose him again." Jason admitted with pain in his voice.

"Like Nate is not being Nate. It's ok to have someone around that brings up the good memories of a lost friend. Nate had his problems and Spenser will have different ones. Those good qualities in Nate are also in Spenser, that's not a bad thing Jase. It means that kid has a lot of heart. And what happened to him is not your fault. You have every right to evaluate the rookies and pick which one is best for your team. Top of the class doesn't mean much if personalities clash. You can't keep looking backwards into the past Jase, you gotta look forward to the future. That's how you don't make the same mistakes."

"I don't plan on making the same ones. I promise you that."

They spent the next five hours sitting there waiting for word. Waiting for a doctor or a nurse to walk through the doors with an update for them. As operatives they were used to waiting, but these five hours felt like five months to the group. When Dr. Walish finally walked through the door they all sprung to their feet to hear what he had to say.

"He's alive, let me start there."

Dr. Walish could see the relief in all of them at those two simple words. They meant everything to a person when they had a friend or loved one in the hospital, especially with injuries like this.

"How bad?" Sonny asked.

"Depends on your definition. Will he live? Yes. Will he sustain lasting injuries? No. Can he still be a Seal? Yes. However, he is still very injured. Forty-four whip lashes all across his back and a couple on his sides from the tip. Some were so deep they went down to his bone. We've had to do multiple layers of stitches to get them to close up and stop bleeding. Realistically, he will need them stitched again within the next three weeks for them to heal properly."

"Why?" Brock asked.

"Because in order to stitch the wounds closed I had to use dissolvable stitches otherwise when the wounds close they would close around the thread and that could cause a severe infection. The problem is he has to keep the wounds clean or he will get an infection. The dissolvable stitches work so that they slowly dissolve with water. With the amount of times he will need to shower to keep his back clean the stitches will dissolve faster. He'll have to go back to get the top two layers done again. That time though, the second layer can be dissolvable while the top layer can be normal stitches. He will have been out of the woods for an infection to the lower level stitches."

"Ok so three weeks he sees the doc about it. What about lasting damage and pain?" Jason asked.

"He will find some discomfort at times. Most with this type of injury do. He was lucky that none hit his spine deep enough to cause nerve damage. His pain will be minimal and nothing an over the counter medication can't fix. Any blows to his back though will be intensified because of the eventual scarring. He'll need to be careful in fights or a bad fall, but it won't hold him back in duty."

"And the gunshot? Did it hit bone?" Trent asked.

"It did, but it went right where the joint is. It could have been a lot worse. It will heal and didn't require surgery thankfully. The various other cuts to his body were shallow enough to have surgical glue to close and they are bandaged. Again, infection is a concern and we have him on an IV antibiotic to help just in case. Nothing in it will make him sick, he's had it before. The bruising will heal and he has a mild concussion along with four broken ribs, three on the left and one on the right. His lungs are the most concerning. X-Rays show the cause for his distress is bruising to his lungs, both lungs totaling twenty-two percent. It sounds low, but anything over twenty percent and it is a serious issue for his breathing. His lungs are struggling to give him the oxygen he needs. Think of it like you badly bruised your whole hand and then told to keep punching. You can't do it as well, because it hurts. It's the same thing only internally. I had to place him on a ventilator to help give his lungs a break and allow his oxygen levels to increase into a safer zone."

"How long will he need to be on that?" Davis asked.

"My guess, three days. If his lungs are holding their own we can take him off of it. This all sounds bad, but I am confident that he'll be able to fly out in a week or so, as long as his oxygen level stays up."

"A week? That's it?" Sonny asked shocked.

"There isn't much I can do for him here once he no longer needs the oxygen. He can stay here for a month and sleep on a cot or he could be at home in his own bed. I get the feeling he would rather be there than here. He'll still be in pain and I can give you something to give him for the flight home. Realistically though, he's going to be miserable here until he gets back home. There's no medical reason for him to stay after the first week, assuming he heals the way he is supposed to."

"How long until he can return to work?" Ray asked.

"Three months assuming his shoulder heals right. If he follows doctor's orders for it and does the P.T. he should be fit to return in three months. Now that is physically mind you. He's been through a traumatic experience. He'll need to be cleared mentally before he can return, but that is something the doctor down there can work out with him. He's been sedated and will stay under until the tubing is removed. You can go and visit him, but only for a short while. You all need rest. He's in good hands now."

"What room?" Trent asked.

"Twenty-one. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank-you Dr. Walish." Jason said on behalf of everyone.

Dr. Walish turned and headed out while the others made their way towards Clay's room. They were all relieved that Clay would recover and without much of a lasting affect physically. They all knew it wouldn't be that simple mentally or emotionally. It would take him some time to recover from the trauma, assuming he ever did. Jason believed he would though, but he wouldn't be able to do it on his own. Something he had a feeling would take Clay a bit of time to get used to. When they arrived at Clay's room they were all taken aback by his appearance. The bruising had gotten darker since they had last seen him. He was laying on his right side so his back wouldn't be supporting his weight and his left shoulder would be able to rest against his body without causing him more pain. It was a hard sight to see, one of their own with a tube down their throat to help them breathe. They all made their way over to the bed and even though they were all exhausted they stayed with Clay for a few hours before Blackburn finally kicked them out to get some sleep themselves.

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It was four days later and Jason was sitting down beside Clay's hospital bed. Clay was able to get the tube removed the previous day and his oxygen level was holding its own. He had yet to wake up and that was concerning to the team, but the doctor had reassured them that it was normal for someone with Clay's injuries. They all had taken turns sitting with Clay in case he woke up, none of them wanting him to wake up alone and confused. They were all hoping that Clay would wake up soon so they could see for themselves that Clay would in fact be fine physically eventually. Jason had been there for four hours, since breakfast, when Clay finally started to show signs of waking up. Jason leaned in closer as Clay let out a weak moan and his eyes flicked open.

Clay slowly began to come back into consciousness. The first thing that registered in his sluggish mind was the pain. It wasn't as bad as it had been before, but it was still there. His chest still hurt a great deal, it was still a little hard to breathe properly. Clay used his training and focused on his other senses before he opened his eyes. He couldn't feel the heat of being outside or in that room. It also smelt clean and not musty or metallic like blood. He was laying on something much softer than the sand he past out on. Clay knew he needed to open his eyes and see where he was, but he just couldn't seem to bring himself to do it. He didn't want to know if he was still trapped under that shack or if someone had grabbed him and he was in another jail.

"Clay, it's ok kid, open your eyes." Jason said gently.

That voice was not what Clay had been expecting. It was the unexpected voice that forced Clay to finally open his eyes. It was slow, but he was able to blink his eyes open to see a bright room. Clay groaned and closed his eyes again as the light hurt. Clay could hear some shuffling beside him before that voice was back.

"It's ok, the lights are turned off."

Clay slowly flickered his eyes open only because it was that voice telling him to. The room was darker, but not so dark that Clay couldn't see anything. He could now see that he was in a hospital of some sorts and Jason was sitting right next to the bed. Clay went to speak, but it only resulted in him coughing. His throat was killing him. Jason reached over and grabbed the plastic cup with a straw and poured some water into it.

"Here, take small sips."

Jason brought the cup to Clay's mouth and held it as Clay took a couple of small sips. It was enough to stop the coughing fit and allowed Clay's dried mouth to feel a little better. Jason pulled the cup back and placed it down on the side table.

"Where?" Clay asked. His voice was very hoarse and it made Jason cringed from the pain he had to of been in.

"Infirmary on J-Bad base. I know you are confused right now, but all that matters is that you are safe and will be ok. You have some injuries you need to be careful of, but everything will heal."

Clay forced his heavy eyes to stay open and look around slightly. He could see that his left arm was in a sling and he remembered getting shot. He was on his right side, something he was thankful for as his back was radiating with pain. The pain wasn't as bad though and that caused a slight worry to creep up.

"My bracelet." Clay said trying to keep his voice softer, hoping that it would help to ease the pain in his throat.

"It's ok, we found it. The Doc made sure that he didn't give you anything you were allergic to. He's only given you medication that you've had before. We are going to need to have a conversation about that later. We need to make sure that you have what you need in the field so this doesn't happen again. We have a couple of things we need to talk about later back home. I'm proud of you though Kid. You could have easily died out there, but you stayed calm and level headed. You got out and you got to a safe place. You did good Spenser."

"They left me."

This time around the pain in Clay's voice was from another reason. Jason could understand why it bothered Clay. Even though, he wasn't an official team member it still should never have happened. They abandoned him and that was unacceptable. That break of trust would be something that Bravo would now have to deal with and try to correct within Clay, because it wouldn't be simple for him to blindly trust them anymore.

"I know and they are going to pay for every mark on you. We're not going to let this go unpunished. I know a trust has been broken and I know it will take some time for you to get that back. I give you my word though Spenser, we, Bravo, will never abandon you. We will always come for you and we will always be there by your side. We're a family and we never leave anyone behind. You hear me Bravo Six?"

"Bravo Six?"

"You didn't think we would let some other team have you did you? Can't trust another team to look out for you or train you right. They'll all want to make you focus more on protocols and procedures, regulations. It'll destroy the best parts of you. You're Bravo now, you're family. But don't think for a second I'm going to let you come back to duty before you are ready. Take the time to heal, take all the time you need. That spot is yours, no matter what. Got it?"

"Ya."

Jason could see that Clay was getting too tired to stay awake for much longer. He sat back as he spoke. "Get some sleep. Someone will be with you at all times."

"Threat?" Clay asked, as he fought to keep his eyes open.

"No, you're safe here. It's what we do when one of us is in the infirmary. Sleep, your body needs it Clay."

"Still feel there."

Clay's eyes were barely open and it was clear to Jason that Clay was afraid to fall asleep. He couldn't blame him, the past three days and the terror he felt during them wouldn't just disappear because he was here now. A person's mind didn't work like that, especially a soldier's.

"That feeling will go away. Sleep Clay, I'm right here. No one is going to hurt you, not while I'm here. You're safe. Sleep." Jason kept his voice gentle, because Clay's mind was fragile right now. He didn't need to be ordered or dealt with harshly. He needed a softer touch right now.

Clay lost the fight to stay awake and slowly went back into the darkness. Jason couldn't help, but notice how young Clay looked in this hospital bed. He was twenty-seven, but he didn't look it and right now he looked even younger. He was really hoping that this wouldn't break Clay, he was a good kid and had a great deal of potential in him. It would be tragic if this ended him and Jason was going to do everything within his power to make sure that it didn't break this kid.

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Three days later and the team were finally loading up to head home. It had been just a little over a week since they landed to find Clay and now they were heading home with Clay. He was banged up, but he was alive. He was still having a hard time breathing from the bruising to his lung. The doctor had said it was normal and would take a little while to heal properly. He was still in a good amount of pain and something as simple as walking took everything out of him. Sonny was helping Clay walk from the truck and onto the plane. Sonny went slow as Clay needed. Trent walking next to Clay on the other side.

"Almost there Kid." Sonny said.

Since Clay had woken up he was still having a harder time breathing. Walking this short distance was making him winded and increased his pain. They got him over to the strapped down cot they use when someone was injured. Sonny helped to get Clay sitting down on the cot and it was clear to everyone that he was in pain. He had a slight tremble to his body and they knew this flight home would take a good amount out of him. Clay let out a shaky breath as he was finally sitting down.

"Are we sure he should be leaving the infirmary?" Brock asked concerned with the amount of pain Clay was in.

"He's going to be in pain for a few weeks. Flying will suck, but he'll be fine once we get him home." Trent answered as he bent down. "Lay down, we'll need to strap you in for take off. I have some pain medication too for you if you want."

"I can sleep it off." Clay said, he didn't want to be doped up right now. He laid down on his right side.

Sonny grabbed the blanket and put it over Clay before him and Trent got Clay strapped down for take off, once they were in the air they could remove the straps until they were landing. With Clay all set Cerberus got up on the cot behind him and laid down. Everytime Brock had been to the infirmary to see Clay, Cerberus made a habit of getting up on the bed with Clay.

"Take off is shortly. Just try and sleep through the flight. When we land you'll need to get checked out on base by the Doc there before you can go home. He might want to keep you overnight." Jason said.

Clay just gave a groan and they couldn't blame him. All he wanted to do was sleep in his own bed and what hope he had of doing that tonight, might be crushed if the base doctor was not comfortable with him being out of the infirmary yet. They all left and got themselves ready so they could take off and get home. They all looked over to see Clay, but he had fallen asleep and with some luck he would sleep the whole time. It was around the seventh hour of the flight when Clay started to stir. The pain in his chest had increased and it was becoming harder to breathe. Sensing his distress Cerberus gave a whine as she inched closer to Clay.

"Cerb, get Trent." Clay said with a short breath.

Cerberus immediately jumped off the bed and ran over to Trent, who was on the other side of the plane in his hammock. Cerberus placed her paws up on the hammock and began to bark. The sound was unexpected and immediately it had not only Trent awake, but the others as well. Trent looked over to Clay and could see he was in distress. He got out of the hammock and went over to Clay. He bent down as he spoke.

"What's wrong Spense?"

"Chest hurts, it's hard to breathe." Clay said with a forced voice.

"I thought he was cleared to fly?" Sonny asked not impressed.

"He is, but as I've said flying will be hard on him with the difference in oxygen levels. I prepared for this. Ray, grab that red bag over there." Trent said, as he pointed to the bag on the other side of the plane with the rest of the stuff.

"What's happening to him?" Jason asked, as Ray ran over to the bag.

"The difference in the oxygen levels as we climb higher doesn't bother us, because our lungs are completely healthy. Spencer's lungs are bruised so his body notices the difference. His lungs are trying to work harder to keep his oxygen levels up, but it causes him pain and that pain makes it hard to breathe." Trent explained.

"What can we do to help him? Do we need to land?" Blackburn asked not liking how much pain Clay seemed to be in, especially after a groan from the kid.

"Landing won't help. He'll be like this until his lungs are fully healed." Trent answered, as he took the bag from Ray and opened it. "I borrowed an oxygen tank from the base and I have a mild sedative that is safe to give him. Spense, I'm going to get this oxygen on you, that'll help give your lungs some support. I'm going to sedate you so you won't feel the pain and have to breathe through it. The sedative should keep you asleep until we land or close to it."

Clay just gave a small nod and they could tell he was in a good amount of pain right now. Trent went to work on injecting the sedative and getting the oxygen mask onto Clay's face. The sedative worked quickly and Clay was fast asleep before Trent had even finished getting the oxygen ready.

"There's no chance the docs on base won't keep him at least overnight. Realistically, they'll want him for a couple of days to monitor his oxygen levels." Trent said.

"Is it a serious problem?" Brock asked.

"It can be. Some people with bruised lungs have to go through oxygen treatments. Some people develop pneumonia or asthma from it. His lungs are twenty-two percent bruised, it's very serious."

"Is it going to affect him in the field? Will he not be able to run as long?" Davis asked.

"Hard to say. It all depends on how his lungs heal and if he develops any complications from it. Best guess, I don't think so, at least not in a way that would hinder him. As long as he does what the doctor orders he should be ok."

"Oh he'll do what the doc orders or I'll kick his ass." Sonny said in a threatening tone.

"Clay's smart, he'll follow the doctor's orders to the letter." Mandy said knowing how anal all Tier One operators were about their health and shape.

"He'll be good until we land?" Jason asked.

"Ya, or close to it." Trent answered, as he got up.

Cerberus got back up on the bed and curled up behind Clay once again. Brock gave her a good ear scratching as Jason spoke.

"Alright, the kid is going to be fine. We all need to get some sleep. It's been a long week."

"Jase is right, we all need some sleep. Cerb will come get us if something is wrong." Ray agreed.

The others all made their way back over to their spot. They were all tired and knew that once they landed it would be daylight and they would have another battle to fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they finally landed Clay had just been starting to wake up from the sedative. He was still tired and sluggish, but he wasn't in as much pain from the lack of oxygen now that they had landed. Sonny and Trent went over to Clay and got him unstrapped and Trent removed the oxygen.

"How you feeling Kid?" Sonny asked.

"Tired."

"That's from the sedative. It's not fully out of your system yet. We're going to move you onto the stretcher and that will take you to the infirmary." Trent said.

Clay just gave a hum as he closed his eyes. He was too tired to try and argue that he could walk there, that he didn't need the stretcher.

"Let's go, get that in here!" Jason yelled to the medics waiting outside of the plane.

The others grabbed their things as the two medics came onboard with the stretcher. Jason went over to Clay to observe them moving his man. Trent and Sonny didn't let the medics touch Clay. They both moved Clay over onto the stretcher and made sure he was once again on his right side. Clay gave a groan at the pain the movement brought. The sedative was wearing off and with it the pain would be back.

"Trent, go with him and make sure he gets settled in. Update the Doc on his condition." Jason ordered.

Trent gave a nod and went with the medics as they pushed Clay off the plane.

"Jason, we need to have a meeting with General Cook regarding Charlie Team." Blackburn said.

"He ready for us?"

"Meeting was set when we were in the air. He's expecting us."

"You want us there Boss?" Sonny asked.

"Better not. Stay with the kid and make sure he doesn't give the Doc a hard time. Make it clear to the Doc that he better be one hundred percent sure the kid is cleared to leave."

"Got it Boss." Brock said.

They all made their way off the plane and headed into different directions. Jason and Blackburn headed for the General's office to speak with him regarding Charlie Team and Clay's condition. Jason was not going to sit back and let them get away with what happened to Clay. They never should have left him out there all alone and if they had no other choice, something Jason did not accept, but if given no other choice they should have reported directly to J-Bad base and Steve could have been out there to get him. Clay might not have gone through what he did if Beau had done the right thing. They arrived at General Cook's office and Blackburn knocked after he gave Jason a look. A look that told Jason he better keep his cool. Jason was a hot head when it involved one of his men or his friends. He didn't take prisoners when someone he cared about was involved. Clay was new to their family, but this past week had brought them closer. Once they were told to enter Blackburn opened the door and walked in. They were both surprised to see the Commander General Whitmore sitting down in the room as well. Blackburn closed the door as he spoke.

"Commander General, I wasn't aware you would be joining us this morning." Blackburn said easily.

"I was informed of the situation by General Cook. It is my understanding that you were successful in retrieving Special Warfare Operator Spenser. Injuries?"

"Worst is bruising on his lungs. He has over forty whip lashes to his back, a few broken ribs, gunshot wound to his left shoulder and various cuts and bruising. He'll need a few months off for medical leave. He's being transferred to the Doc here now."

"I've been fully briefed on the situation and have spoken with Fuller along with the rest of Charlie Team. Their mission was to go capture a known terrorist organizer and bring him back here to turn into an informant. Their target has connections to twenty major terrorist cells. Everyone on Charlie team backup Fuller's decision to leave Spenser behind. I agree fully."

"You agree with leaving a man in enemy territory? He was captured and tortured Sir." Blackburn said not expecting this at all.

"An acceptable loss given the outcome. One soldier's life is not worth more than the thousands of lives we could save by shutting down these terrorist cells. Not to mention he should never have been captured in the first place. He should have been able to reach the exfil site like the others without any problems. He is supposed to be a Tier One Operative and so far he has shown nothing of the sorts."

"He was left alone with minimal ammo in a war zone. He was captured, but was able to keep a calm head and leave a trail for the team to find him. He escaped his captors and killed them before he found a safe place to hide and wait for rescue. Everything he did was pure Tier One material. Charlie team should never have left him there to begin with. They didn't even call the base. Echo team could have gotten to him before he was tortured." Jason said furious that the Commander General was going to let Charlie off the hook. Clay had taken serious injuries and it was like it didn't matter at all because they got their informant.

"Fuller followed protocol. The mission was completed and the target will make a valuable asset. If Spenser is unable to handle himself in the field he can be placed back into another Seal team."

"He can handle himself. He's proven that." Jason said defensively. He wasn't going to let anyone say that Clay wasn't good enough and he wasn't going to have him taken from them.

"Sir, are you sure that this doesn't have anything to do with your hatred towards Ash Spenser?" Blackburn asked.

It was no secret that the Commander General hated Clay's father. He had hated him before the book came out. It seemed like the Commander General was taking that hatred out on Clay, because this situation has come up before many years ago and the Commander General had court martialed the other soldiers involved.

"My feelings are not relevant Commander. Nor do you have the authority to question my decisions. It is final. The report has been filed. Now, I suggest you both prepare for your next operation. Dismissed."

Jason was about to argue, but Blackburn turned and guided Jason out of the room before anymore could be said. Blackburn continued to lead Jason down the hallways until they were back into his office. He couldn't risk Jason saying something that would be overheard by someone in the upper brass. Blackburn closed the door and that was when Jason started.

"What the hell is this shit? He was captured and tortured because of Charlie's decision to leave him behind. And nothing gets done about it?"

"I wasn't expecting for General Cook to inform the Commander General about this. Seems like Cook is looking to stay on Whitmore's good side. Whitmore has hated Ash Spenser almost since he started. They've done missions together in the past and had different approaches, kinda like you and Fuller. Whitmore hated Ash more than anyone and when the book came out he petitioned to have Ash's honorable discharge changed to dishonorable. I never expected he would go so low to take it out on Ash's son."

"We can't just let this go and ignore it. He could have died Eric."

"I know, I know Jason. The problem is Fuller did follow protocol. I can run it up the chain to try and get this decision overturned, but he has regulations behind him. What would you like me to do Jason?"

"What I would like to happen and what I can do are two very different things. Protocols doesn't make what happened to him right. Doesn't change the fact that he was right there and they left him. It wasn't like they didn't know where he was or didn't know if he was alive. He responded and they left him there. He shouldn't have to pay the price for his father's actions. Do you think anyone above would do something?"

"It's not likely, unfortunately. Once someone with Whitmore's ranking rules on something, most won't go against it. Especially when Fuller did follow protocol. He's going to be a problem in the future. If he wants to make Spenser quit he's going to be hard on him. He has the power to place Spenser on any mission he wants even outside of the team. He did the same with Ash."

"That's just great. How the hell do I tell the team, do I tell Clay, that the people responsible for what happened to him won't even get a slap on the wrist? They don't have any right to be going on with their lives as if this didn't happen. Clay deserves justice."

"I agree with you, but unfortunately it won't work out this time. All we can do right now is keep track of everything that Whitmore does towards Spenser. If he becomes a problem we will at least have the evidence to back up a claim of biased."

"This is bullshit. Fucking bullshit. The team is going to lose it over this. I have to tell Spenser, that because of his father the people who led to this situation don't even get punished for it."

"I know, believe me I know. I don't need to tell you that sometimes this job sucks. I'll see what I can do, put some feelers out, but I wouldn't expect anything to come from it."

"That's just great." Jason said with a shake of his head. He was beyond furious.

"Go and see the kid. Make sure he's going to be alright. Focus on what you can do for him and not the crap that you can't."

Jason just gave a distant nod and headed out of the room. Blackburn knew he was pissed off, he couldn't blame him he was furious too. He would see what he could do to try and fix this situation, but he had no hope for it. He would need to keep a closer eye on Spenser and make sure that Whitmore didn't place him on any missions that he wasn't ready for. Jason stormed down the hallways to reach the medical bay. He was trying to calm himself down so he could tell his team the outcome, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't calm down. The more he thought about it the more pissed off he got. Jason knew the team wasn't going to handle this well. He knew Sonny was going to be out for blood like a shark, but they weren't up against some other soldier. They were up against a Commander General. He was untouchable. They would make Charlie pay for their actions though, one way or another. Jason arrived at the Med Bay and saw the team standing there in the small waiting room.

"How is he?" Jason asked.

"The Doc is getting him settled. He wants to keep him for at least forty-eight hours. He's being set with an oxygen mask, if his oxygen levels don't improve he might have to be intubated again." Trent answered.

"I thought he was past that." Jason said not impressed that Clay might have to be back on a tube.

"Doc says he shouldn't have been cleared to fly that long. He'll be here for at least two days." Trent answered.

"Then why was he cleared in the first place?" Jason said not impressed at all.

"He probably figured we were taking him to Germany. He's home now and being set up so he should be fine. The Doc will want to run some tests later on today to make sure that nothing was missed. I don't think there was, I saw the scans myself, but it's better to be safe than sorry. A broken rib could have moved during the flight. It's better to be safe than sorry at this point."

"What happened with the General?" Ray asked.

"Commander General Whitmore was there with him. Approved what Charlie team did. He's not reprimanding them at all. They were already sent on another mission."

"What?" Ray asked shocked.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sonny said at the same time.

"He said that if Spenser couldn't handle himself in that situation then he shouldn't be a Tier One Operative. Eric said that Whitmore has hated Spenser's father long before the book came out. Seems like he's going to be holding it against the kid. Eric said he would see what he could do, but it wasn't likely to amount to anything."

"So they just get away with leaving him behind in a war zone. He was captured and tortured. He's seriously injured." Trent said not happy at all about this.

"There's gotta be something we can do. Someone else we can go and speak with about this." Brock said, not willing to let this go.

"Eric suggested that we keep track of anything Whitmore might order the Kid to do. He thinks he's going to be pushing Spenser into pulling out, going for a discharge. He did the same to his father. I guess after awhile it worked."

"And we are supposed to tell him what? He's going to be permanently scared by this and they just get to keep going on missions like it never happened?" Brock said.

"We tell him that we are going to be there for him. We be there for him to get him through this so he gets back to missions himself. We don't let this destroy him. He's family now. No man left behind, on or off the field. I will handle telling him about this when he is more rested." Jason answered.

"We should contact his girl, Stella." Sonny suggested.

"I'll make the call." Ray offered.

"Once we see him, we all need to head home, get some sleep and real food into us. Spenser being on medical leave doesn't change the fact that we will still get called to roll out." Jason ordered.

"He's safe now and on the road to recovery. Jase is right, we need to get rested up or it could be one of us in there next time." Ray agreed.

They waited around for fifteen minutes before the doctor came out. He held a hand out stopping any questions so he could speak.

"I've sedated him, he's going to be out for a good eight hours. He needs oxygen for at least two days to give his lungs the help they need. Assuming all of his scans and tests come back clean he'll be discharged in three days."

"Do you think something was missed?" Jason asked.

"No. The trick with his injuries, it is hard to see the level of damage that has been done. Like external bruising, internal gets worse before it gets better. The flight home just took a lot out of him. He's going to be off for at least three months though. He can't fly until his lungs are fully healed and he may need to have further treatment. I won't know until some time has past and see how his lungs are healing."

"If he needs treatment, what would that mean?" Ray asked.

"He would need to come in for oxygen treatments and breathing exercises."

"Give it to us straight Doc, worse case scenario?" Sonny asked.

"People with this level of injury tend to have a lasting affect. Most common is asthma. There are three degrees to asthma, mild, moderate and severe. Typically if he does develop asthma chances are he'll only need an inhaler. He'll need to have it with him at all times, but he'll still be able to do his job without any complications. However, if he does develop severe asthma he would need to be placed on medication along with an inhaler. Given his allergies a medication is out of the question and without the medication he wouldn't be able to run or be physically active. He would be given a medical discharge, there would be no choice."

"All from a little bruising?" Brock said shocked.

"It sounds like a little when you look at a big picture. What's twenty-two percent out of a hundred, it should be nothing. But think of it this way, if you got twenty-two percent of your hand broken, you would require surgery and extensive physical therapy. The lungs are the same only bruising can be just as bad as breaking a bone. Anything over twenty percent is considered severe and a great number of people have died from it and the complications that can come from it. This is very serious and it will be something he is heavily monitored over for three months at least, and even after that he will have to have regular scans done to ensure his lungs are working properly. He will also be more susceptible to chest infections, pneumonia and bronchitis. Something as simple as a cold could turn deadly if he does not take proper care of himself. It is very serious, but I don't want you to worry about it too much. As long as he takes proper care of himself he should be fine."

"Oh he'll take real good care of himself. We can promise you that." Sonny said and it was clear they weren't going to settle for anything less.

"I have no doubt that you will ensure it. As I have said, he is sedated and will be out for the next eight hours. He'll spend most of the week sleeping and it is the best thing for him. I've gone over any post hospital care for his injuries and will go over them again when he is discharged. You can see him, but only for a few minutes he needs the rest and based on your appearances I could say the same for all of you."

"Thanks Doc." Jason said, as he held his hand out, which the doctor easily took.

The team headed towards Clay's hospital room while the doctor headed off to check on his other patients. The team could only stay for a few minutes and then they would have to head home themselves. Once they saw that Clay was going to be ok they would be able to get some rest themselves.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was three days later when Bravo team was in their cage working on an inventory. Davis had wanted an update on their supplies so she would know what needed to be ordered and what could wait. It was something they did every three months. Typically it was done every six months, but Davis was more anal about it. She was always prepared for anything and doing inventory more often allowed her to constantly be on top of everything. Davis was there making notes of all of the supplies that they called out.

"Any word on when Spenser will be discharged?" Davis asked.

"He was released this morning." Ray answered.

"Oh, who picked him up?"

"Stella." Ray said.

"Really? Wouldn't that be awkward?"

"Why would it?" Sonny asked confused.

"Because she broke up with him." Davis stated.

"Wait what?" Jason asked, poking his head out of his cage.

"When?" Sonny asked.

"That first day he was in the infirmary here. I saw him the next morning and he told me. She was there for about ten minutes before she told him that she couldn't do it."

"Oh that's classy. Break up with a fella laying in a hospital bed after getting captured and tortured." Sonny said not impressed at all.

"When was she supposed to do it? Help him get better over the next three months and then break his heart? This way sucks, but at least he's only hurt and not heart broken." Davis said.

"Who took him home then?" Brock asked.

"Maybe his dad picked him up." Trent suggested.

"No, I offered to call him and the kid refused flat out." Ray said.

"If he took a cab home I swear I'm going to kick his ass." Sonny said.

"He probably did. When he is better I'm making him do runs." Jason said annoyed that Clay would go home from the infirmary in a cab.

"Take it easy on the kid. Remember, he's not used to family. It's going to take him a bit to get used to the concept that he's not alone." Ray said in Clay's defense.

"I think we need to force ourselves on him." Sonny suggested.

"Go over there tonight. Bring some dinner, he probably doesn't have much in the way of food." Brock said.

"I could stop for some groceries for him." Davis offered.

"Alright, tonight we go over there and give him a proper welcome." Jason said with a nod.

"This should be interesting." Davis said with a smirk.

They spent the rest of the afternoon going over their inventory. When it was time to head out Jason headed to Blackburn's office to speak to him real quick before he would head over to Clay's place. The door was open so Jason walked in and shut it behind him.

"Hey Jason, something you need?"

"Spenser was discharged this morning, do you know who took him home?"

"No, I wasn't aware he had been discharged yet. Wouldn't Stella have taken him?" Blackburn asked, as he sat back in his chair.

"She broke up with him apparently. That first day we got back. You didn't call his father?"

"No. She dumped him? That's going to suck for the kid, but at least he knows now that she can't handle this life instead of three years from now."

"He's not close with his father I take it. What about the rest of his family?"

"He doesn't have any. His mother died when he was young, under one I think. He was raised by his father's parents. His father was in and out between deployment and then when he was discharged he still wasn't around. Ash was an only child and we only know what Spenser knows about his mother's side, which is she was an only child and her parents were both dead. His grandparents died when he was sixteen, graduated high school a week after his eighteenth birthday, three months early. The next day he was on a bus to boot camp."

"Who took care of him between sixteen and eighteen?"

"Never said, it was assumed his father. But when you confirmed that Spenser would be on your team I did some digging. A few days after his grandparents died in a car crash he started working full time in a twenty-four hour diner. He worked the night shift as a cook helper from five at night until three in the morning. He then went to school the next day. Did that five days a week, sometimes he would work twelve or fourteen hours on the weekend."

"He lived on his own. Worked his ass off to pay the bills and went to school so no one would think something was wrong."

"And he still managed to graduate three months early and with high grades. Military qualifying test, he got ninety-eight percent on it. He's been on his own since he was sixteen, eleven years now. Team Three is close, but they aren't family barbeque close. It's going to take him some time to adapt to the change in dynamics."

"Ya, more so than I thought. We're all heading over there now. Care to join us?"

"Would love to, but I can't. I got a stack of paperwork I need to get in. I'll be here late tonight. Say hi to Spenser for me and make sure he's alright."

"I will. Derek said he would check in on him too every day. We're all looking out for him."

"Good, the more people looking out for him the better. Especially with Whitmore on his ass. Go see our boy."

Jason gave a nod and headed out of the office. He had no idea what Whitmore would do in the future to Clay, but he was going to be there for him regardless. They would get him healthy and back to missions in no time. It was roughly thirty minutes later when he pulled up in front of Clay's apartment building. He saw that everyone was there waiting out front. He spoke as he got out of the car and headed over to them.

"What are you waiting for?"

"We thought it would be more fun to storm in together." Sonny said with a smirk.

"I got pizza and beer." Davis said with a smile.

"Let's go storm the castle then." Jason said with his own smile.

They all made their way inside and up to Clay's apartment, they all were changed out of their uniforms and into their plan clothes. Once at the door Jason knocked and they waited a moment to see if Clay would answer. They had no idea if he was asleep or not, but they knew it would take him a minute to make it over to the door. He was still sore and stiff from everything. After a minute they could hear shuffling and they knew that Clay was coming to the door. He opened it and they saw that he had changed into some sweats and was wearing a baggy t-shirt so it wouldn't agitate his injured back. He looked rundown and just sad to be honest. He was clearly surprised to see them here, he completely expected to be on his own with all of this.

"What are you doing here?" Clay was slightly out of breath, a clear sign that his lungs were not healthy.

"You didn't actually think we would let you slip away that easily did you?" Sonny said, as he headed into the apartment without the invite.

"Didn't think going home was slipping." Clay said, as he moved back as the others entered.

"When you leave the infirmary in a cab, that's slipping." Sonny pointed out.

"Wasn't gonna walk." Clay said, giving up and headed over to sit down on the couch. The grimace on his face didn't go unnoticed.

"You're supposed to call one of us. You always call one of us to pick you up." Jason said, as he sat down in a chair.

"You need more furniture." Sonny said sitting down on the couch.

"We brought pizza and beer. He can have beer right?" Davis asked Trent.

"One or two." Trent said, as he went into the kitchen to grab some plates.

Davis went and opened a beer for Clay and handed it to him while the others got their own. They all got some pizza and Davis handed Clay a plate, who gave a small smile of thanks.

"Nice place you got here." Brock said.

"You really do need more furniture." Trent said.

"People don't visit me."

"They do now." Davis said with a smile.

"Apparently."

"How are you feeling? Any problems?" Trent asked.

"Just tired mostly."

"How is your breathing?" Trent pressed.

"Not too bad. I'm fine."

"It sounds tight." Jason commented.

"I'm fine. Doc said to take it easy."

"You better be doing everything the doctor says. Don't do something stupid and get yourself pushed back. You got missions to go on." Sonny said.

"I'm doing what he says."

"So tell us something about yourself. What do you do in your free time?" Davis asked trying to change the subject for Clay.

"I do some charity work."

"Ya, what kind?" Ray asked.

"I help out at a soup kitchen every Saturday when I'm in town."

"Really?" Sonny asked surprised.

"Ya. St. Arthur's down on Main. Father Paul runs it. I've been going there since I was sixteen. I have to call him and tell him I won't be in for a few months. He'll worry otherwise."

"You start going there for community service hours?" Ray asked.

"Ah no."

"You just randomly decided to work at a soup kitchen?" Sonny asked.

Jason had a feeling that Clay wasn't working at a soup kitchen, but instead he was needing the soup kitchen. Clay started to pick at the label on his beer bottle. He didn't want to talk about this, but at the same time he knew that they weren't going to let it go. He was exhausted and in pain, the last thing he wanted to do was drag this out. He didn't have the energy for it. Clay kept his eyes down on the bottle in his hand as he spoke.

"I was raised by my grandparents on my father's side. They were killed when I was sixteen. Drunk driver took them both out in a car crash. They died instantly and he died a few hours later from alcohol poisoning. My father wasn't around, took off after the funeral. I didn't see him again until I was twenty-one."

"Where did you live?" Davis asked gently.

"In the house. I pretended that he was living with me when anyone would ask. The house had been long paid off, but he actually remortgaged it within a few days of their funeral. He likes to gamble. He took the money and left me with the bills. I would work overnight in a diner in the kitchen and go to school during the day. But I was a sixteen year old kid getting paid under the table, so I didn't always make much. Barely enough to cover the mortgage and utilities."

"You used to go there for food." Ray said with a slight sadness to his voice.

"I walked by it every day on my way to work. Father Paul would stand outside and say hi to everyone that walked by. I used to avoid making eye contact. I always thought people could tell just by looking at me. Took about a month before I finally got the courage to go inside. He had a sign up in the window that said, everyone welcome and no questions asked. I hadn't eaten for a week, I figured it was worth the risk. I was also good at lying. He gave me a smile and that was it. Didn't ask me anything. So I went back the next day after school and every day after that. It took about two weeks before he came over and sat down with me. He never asked about my home situation, still hasn't to this day. He just sat down and asked if I needed help with my homework. It's stupid, but at the time it meant everything to me."

"That's not stupid." Jason said and it caused Clay to look up finally. "You were a sixteen year old kid. You lost the only parents that you knew and your father was too busy being an asshole to raise you right. Father Paul was a nice man who didn't judge you or try and force answers from you. He saw you as a normal kid doing homework. He became a constant in your life when you didn't have anyone. Of course it meant a lot to you. He sounds like a really nice man."

"He is. Every night after school he would help me with my homework. Sometimes he would even do it on the weekends. We would spend eight hours sitting there trying to get it done or a project. I was terrible at science, but he would calmly sit there and explain it to me a hundred different ways. He never once got angry or annoyed. He was in the Vietnam War, enlisted when he was eighteen. Before him I never wanted to be in the military. The only military man I knew was my father and I wanted to be nothing like him. Father Paul would tell me his stories about his time overseas; he was a sniper. One Saturday he took me out to his range, he believed that everyone should be able to shoot to protect themselves. I didn't want to do it at first, but I didn't want to disappoint him either. I had fun with it so we went once a week. A few months in he handed me his sniper rifle and taught me how to use it. The second I laid down with it, it was like the whole world faded away. I had never felt peace like that before. You know?" Clay said, as he looked at Ray.

"I got you brother. There's a tranquility being up on that hill." Ray said with understanding.

"He taught me everything he knew after that. I can't tell you how many times he's saved my life from it. Every weekend we would spend it training and studying, getting me ready for the qualifying test for boot camp. He was there when I graduated high school and when I graduated boot camp. He came down for it dressed in his blues. He's always been there for me. Whenever I came back from a mission we would talk about it and he would give me ideas on what could have been done differently. He always says it's ok to think outside of the box as long as the answer is the same in the end. He's a good man."

"He sounds like one. He's a priest?" Sonny asked.

"Used to be after the war. He retired from the ministry ten years ago. Now he focuses on the soup kitchen. He runs it by himself with a couple of volunteers. The weekends are hard though, because it's just him. The couple volunteers he has all work on weekends or have children. I try to go whenever I can to help out. He's seventy now, it's not that easy anymore for him to be working all day long."

"What time are you there?" Sonny asked.

"Saturdays I go around nine and help him make lunch and dinner for three hundred people. By the time clean up is done it's around eight or nine at night before we close up."

"Three hundred people? Damn." Trent said shocked at the number.

"It's a lot of people. They come by for both meals, by the end of the day we cook six hundred meals."

"Shit. No one can do that on their own." Sonny said.

"It's why I go. I'm not going to be able to until my shoulder is healed."

"You better call him tomorrow. He'll worry if he doesn't hear from you." Ray said.

"I will."

They spent the next couple of hours just talking about nothing and getting letting Clay know more about them. They could tell that Clay was getting too tired so they had said their goodbyes to give Clay a break. Clay was relieved to be alone again and he went to take a shower. He needed to keep his back clean and he had yet to take a shower since getting home. The hot water felt good against his sore muscles, but hurt his back from the still fresh stitches. He had yet to look at his back, he didn't want to see it. He knew it would be scared horribly, he wasn't ready to see that yet. Once he got out of the shower he got his sleep pants on, but left his shirt off. He needed to let his back dry first before he would need to get his shirt on to protect the stitches from being rubbed against his sheets. He grabbed the bandages that he needed to change the bandage for his gunshot wound. He headed out of his bathroom and into his bedroom. He stopped short as he saw Jason leaning against his window.

"You left." Clay simply said shocked.

"I wanted to talk to you alone. Sit down, I'll help get your wound wrapped." Jason said, as he pushed off from the wall and headed towards Clay.

"It's fine I got it."

"I'm a trained medic and it's easier for someone with two hands to do it than someone with one. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I never said you were." Clay said slightly defensive.

"No, but there is a part of your mind cautious around us. You don't know us and after what you went through it's natural for you to be more guarded and having a hard time with trust. It's ok for you to feel what you are feeling Clay."

"I don't trust easily." Clay softly admitted as he sat down on his bed, surrendering to his boss.

"Don't blame you after what you've been through. If you can't trust and depend on your own father, it becomes hard to trust or depend on someone else. Trust has to be earned and the people that care about earning it will work for it. Be honest, how bad is the pain?" Jason asked, as he went to work on wrapping Clay's gunshot wound.

"It's manageable. I'm mostly just tired."

"Your body is trying to get enough oxygen into your blood. It has to work harder because of the bruising. You'll be tired for a good month until the bruising starts to heal. What did the doctor say? Do you need oxygen treatment?"

"Not yet, that could change if my lungs don't heal right. Should know in a week if the bruising is healing properly. I have that little breathing device to help strengthen my lungs. I have to be careful that I don't get pneumonia. Doc said I have to do controlled coughing every day to get the shit up."

"Blood and mucus can build up from the bruising. You need to be careful it doesn't sit there, that can turn into pneumonia."

"I know."

"He say anything else about it? Any lasting damage?"

"My chances of getting acute respiratory distress syndrome goes up when I get older. There's an eighty percent chance that up to twenty percent of both lungs will be permanently damaged. Good chance of asthma and I'll be prone to getting pneumonia. I might never be able to be a Tier One from it."

"Doc tell you that?" Jason asked, as he finished wrapping Clay's shoulder.

"No, but if my lungs can't keep up during operations I would be putting people at risk. It's different on a Seal Team than Tier One. It could all be for nothing."

"It's not for nothing Clay. You can't think worst case scenario. Even if you have twenty percent damage to your lungs, you still have eighty percent of good young and healthy lungs. You think Sonny can run up a hill for eight hours without getting winded? We all take breaks during our ops. I make sure of it so we are ready for anything that might come up. Every hour we hike we take a ten minute break. Too many teams will push themselves to reach their target destination sooner than needed, they put themselves at risk of not being rested for a fight. Even if your lungs are damaged, you will still be able to handle the physical demands of a Tier One."

"I'm still at risk of developing asthma."

"And you won't be the only one with it. You just need to keep your inhaler with you and Trent will carry extra cartridges just in case. It's all manageable Clay. You want a shirt?"

"Um... ya."

Jason went over and grabbed the shirt that Clay had on the back of his chair for when he got out of the shower. Jason went over and helped to get the shirt on Clay, being careful of his shoulder and his back. With the shirt on Jason then spoke.

"You need to lay down, we can talk that way."

Clay didn't even attempt to argue or say he was fine. His whole body hurt and all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep. Jason pulled the covers back once Clay stood up and Clay got into bed and laid down on his right side. Jason put the covers down over Clay's hips before he went and grabbed a stool from the living room island counter to sit on.

"I know you are tired, I'll keep this short. First, I know you don't have clearance to have a specialized medical kit. Blackburn has already agreed that from now own Trent will carry a special kit for you so we'll always have what you need in the field. Blackburn and I will take whatever heat might come our way for it. So when you are cleared to come back speak with Trent and make sure he has what you need. You'll need to have a more in depth conversation with him and the team doctor about what medications you have taken and what ones you are more allergic to."

"You guys have a team doctor?"

"We do. Dr. Roberts, he travels with our support staff."

"Do the other teams have one?"

"No we tend to have things that the other teams don't. Our support staff is rather large and all have their own purpose and need on the team. We have our own chopper pilot for emergencies that can fly in any type of weather condition. He was a fighter pilot, but he was too old for their standards and we picked him up. He's saved our asses a good number of times."

"Why do you guys have things that the other teams don't?"

"Because I am good at asking and my requirements have been proven to be needed. We also pull results and have the best record out of all the Tier One teams. Being the best pays off. The other teams are good about it, except for Charlie. They hate us because Beau hates me. We work closely with Alpha. When we need a second team we go with them. Derek, across the hall, is Alpha Two and he is briefed on what happened to you. He's going to be checking in on you every day he's state side. So if you need something, don't hesitate to go to him. He is also trained in first aid. On the team, Ray and I have first aid training to be a medic, but Trent is our actual medic and is trained up to surgery. Do you have first aid training?"

"Some ya. That was something I always wanted to learn more of. Things happen and if your medic goes down you can be screwed. I'm only a level one medic."

"Well if you want to learn more Trent will be happy to teach. Now, I know you want to run your own team one day. That means you will have questions, lots of questions. Most team leaders will have issues with questions and people questioning decisions. I'm good with it. Asking questions is how someone learns, challenging calls is how you learn. I want you to ask whatever questions you have. Don't hesitate. The more you learn the better prepared you will be for when you end up on your own. Because it will happen. At some point we will get split up and you might have to be on your own to get back to safety. The more you learn the better your chances will be. When we are tough on you it's because we want you to live. You'll have some bad habits we will need to break out of you. Seal Team Three is a hard working team, but they don't need to be as vigilant as we do. If we are riding you it's not because we are picking on the new guy. It's because we want you to live longer than us."

"I'm used to someone riding my ass. But I do ask a lot of questions. Only way I know how to learn."

"That's the best way to learn. I got no problems with questions. You were number two on Seal Team Three, your mind is set as a leader and normally that wouldn't be an issue, but when you go from being a leader to having to follow it can be hard to get out of that mindset. I'm not saying you need to shut up and follow. I'm concerned that with you being used to having to take risks to protect the rest of your team that you will continue to take risks to protect the rest of us. I need you to try your best not to. We have more experience than you do and you need to restrain yourself in jumping first. It's our job to protect you. It's not your job to die protecting us."

"I get what you are saying, but you also have to understand that I'm not the type of person to walk away with someone's life on the line and do nothing. If I can help and prevent someone from being hurt I'm going to. I get I'm on the bottom of the ladder here, but I'm not green either. You want me to trust in your skills and experience, but you also have to trust in mine. I'm not going to take any unnecessary risks, but I won't leave a man behind either."

"And I'm not asking you to. I know trust has to be built, especially after what you have just gone through. But trust in our abilities and know that we will protect you and know how to get out of a bad situation. It's going to take some time for all of us to get to know you and for you to get to know us, but know that we will always have your back."

"I'll always have the team's back. And I won't react without thinking. I know that can jeopardize their lives as well as my own."

"You are a smart kid Clay. You stayed calm through all of this and thought clearly. You got out of a situation where most wouldn't have been able to. I am truly proud of you. You did good Kid, you did real good. You earned a case of beer."

"What?" Clay asked slightly confused by why he would have earned a case of beer.

"It's what we do with new guys. You not only survived capture, but you got yourself to safety. You earned a case of beer. Don't worry there will be plenty of firsts where you will owe the team a case of beer. Think of it as initiation, only when you do or say something smart the team owes you a case of beer."

"So I'm up one."

"Ya well by the end of your first op with us you'll be down at least fifteen cases. So I wouldn't get your hopes up." Jason said with an easy smile.

"So your plan is to make me poor then. I kinda got used to eating."

"Naw, you can spread it out. We gotta keep you eating to get some weight onto you. We gotta bulk you up a bit."

"I can hold my own at this weight. Besides, I normally bulk up when I'm deployed."

"Most of us do and it's not about how big you are. It's about what you do with it that counts. Brock doesn't bulk up either. I was only teasing."

"What's gonna happen with Charlie?"

"General Cook informed Commander General Whitmore of the situation and your injuries."

"Nothing is gonna happen." Clay easily stated before Jason could even get to that part.

"How do you know that?"

"Whitmore hates my father and has made it clear to me on numerous occasions that he doesn't want me here. He has denied every request that I put in for my own med kit. He hates me. It's fine I didn't actually expect anything to be done about this anyways. It's fine."

The fact that Clay didn't expect anything to come from this cut Jason deep. He had so easily accepted that nothing would be done to Charlie for the pain that they had caused him. Jason was getting a feeling in the pit of his stomach that this was not the first time Clay had been treated this way due to his father's actions. It was something he planned on keeping an eye on to ensure that Clay was not judged for other's actions.

"Blackburn is going to see if he can do something about it, but he wasn't sure it would work. Beau did follow regulations so he has that on his side. We're not going to let them get away with it, one way or another. I don't want you to worry about it though, you need to focus on getting better. I'm gonna get out of here and let you rest. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No, I'm good thanks though."

"We'll check in with you so make sure you have your phone. Sonny is not above kicking your door in if you don't answer your phone. Derek is also right across the hall, don't hesitate to go over there if you need something or need help. We help each other, it's what we do."

"Got it."

Jason stood as he spoke again. "We all programed our numbers in your phone, including Davis. We expect to hear from you at least once a day."

"Ok."

"Goodnight Clay."

"Night Boss."

Clay barely had his eyes open and Jason knew he would be asleep before he even reached his car. Jason turned off the light and headed out. He made sure he clicked the lock on the door on his way out. Jason headed to his car, feeling like he could breathe for the first time since he had been told that Clay was over in a war zone by himself. He was finally back home where he belonged. He was safe and on the road to recovery. Together they would get Clay healthy and through this ordeal so he would be ready to return to missions and take his place on their team. He had become apart of their family. He was now their brother and they always looked out for their fellow brother. Jason got to his car and turned to look at the apartment building one last time.

"Welcome to the family Kid." And with that, Jason got into his car and headed off. Ready for whatever was to come their way.

 **The End.**

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 **A/N: If there are any injuries you would like to see Clay have or any situation you would like to see happen in a story, please let me know and I will do my best to incorporate them.**

Steve Porter

Rob Johnson

Richard williams

Chris hall

Bill razor

Mickie miller

Beau

Cerberus

Jalalabad


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